


Stay Another Day

by CasualWinchester



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, F/F, F/M, Family Feels, M/M, Mates, Nogitsune, Pack Bonding, Pack Mom Melissa, Pack Mom Talia, Pre-Nogitsune, Season 3, Sibling Bonding, angsty, back from the dead
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-07-19 23:12:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 31,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7381357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasualWinchester/pseuds/CasualWinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For years Derek and his sisters believed that their parents were dead. The same idea is believed by their parents, who both think most of their children are dead. What happens when a strike of luck shines a light on what could soon be an amazing discovery of family and pack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Talia Hale**

The rain batters against the windows of our small house, it’s not small by ant cost but it is smaller than our old one. The one that burnt down almost everyone I loved and everything I have ever owned.

The only person that survived alongside me was my husband Henry and my son Adam. We all ran after the fire, we had to fight our way out of the wreckage, and the bodies of our family and friends. I ended up losing my claws in the end, they should grow back but I have no idea if they had as I have not changed into my wolf in a long time.

Full moons have become a constant reminder of what my life was back before the fire. I remember how now of my children apart from Laura were able to control themselves during the shift.

Derek was so close, with Peter’s help he was getting better at learning how to control himself. Then my baby girl Cora, only ten years old, we had to lock her in her room with someone watching over her. I remember that one month she trashed her whole room and we had to replace everything.

The memories of my once family is the reason why I refuse to return home to Beacon Hills, which is probably a little selfish since that place can attract the supernatural like a moth to a flame. I should have faith in the people I left behind, such as Deaton, his sister and him could deal with something small. I feel like if anything really bad was happening he would get in contact with me. If he could find me that is, I haven’t spoken to him since the fire, he probably thinks that I am dead.

The sound of knocking on the door gets my attention. I turn from where I was looking out the window to see Adam standing in the doorway, he is holding a tray with my breakfast on it. Part of me wants to sigh and tell him to stop treating me like a china doll, both him and Henry are just waiting for me to breakdown, even though it has been 7 years since the fire.

“Morning mother, I figured I would make you breakfast before Dad and I head out to work” He says cheerfully, he always finds a way to be happy even though he has to walk 20 minutes to work in this pouring rain.

“Thank you darling, just set it to the side I will eat it once I have dressed” I answer him so he sets it down on my dresser.

“I wanted to tell you something” He tells me once he turns back around to look at me. He looks wary so I know it’s going to be nothing good, he always flushes when he has to tell me something that he’d rather not. “Work is sending me to south America to visit a family over there and to visit their branch” He tells me.

I then realise why he was so nervous to tell me that he was going. He knows how much I worry everyday with just him and Henry going off to work, I hate being too far from them because I don’t think I could take losing anyone else.

I can see behind his worried looks that he is actually really excited about going on this trip and I know that if I express my worries that he would not go. I don’t want him to miss out on life experiences just because I worry for him, he should get to live his life whilst he is still young and I could be getting in the way of that.

“That’s amazing, you have wanted to go visit somewhere like that for a long time” I say with a false smile. I know how to hide my worry from him, it comes with being an alpha.

“You’re okay with this?” He asks, his eyebrows raising and his eyes widening in shock, he clearly expected me to ask him to stay home.

“Yes sweetheart, you have spent the majority of the past seven years looking after your father and I, you deserve this trip even if it is for work” I say because this really is not a holiday.

“I like making sure you are okay, I worry about you and Dad since the fire” He says quietly. I feel my heart stop for a moment when he mentions the fire because we usually don’t talk about it.

He looks like he still thinks he should stay home and it makes me feel guilty that he should feel this way. Sighing I stand up from my chair so I could go over to him, as if sensing what I was going to do, he raises his arms and allows me to hug him.

“Darling, I know you feel like you need to look after us but you need to look after yourself too… you have been amazing the past couple of years but I want you to go live your life, and if I find out that you chose not to go on the trip I will smack you upside the head” I say with a small laugh, I can hear his muffled laugh from where his face is hidden in my neck.

“Okay, okay I will go” He laughs then pulls back, “speaking of going, I need to get leaving for work… got a meeting today to sort out plans” He tells me, a spark of excitement bubbling up.

“Well you better not be late mister” I tell him sharply making him grin. He kisses my cheek then bounds from the room.

It’s less than five minutes before they are calling goodbye followed by the sound of the door closing. I cross over to the window, watching as they both struggle to hold up and umbrella in the heavy wind and rain.

I smile as I watch them because sure my life is still good but it is nothing compared to what I had lost.

I had lost part of my heart at the same time as I lost my babies.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay any information I gave about America or South America has come from the internet and I live in Britain so I don't know much about it and I could potentially be all wrong so I am sorry, feel free to correct me if I have done anything wrong.

**Adam**

“Now remember dear, this is not a holiday, this is for work so don’t go slacking off” My mother’s parting words echo in my head as the plane touches down in the South African city of Durban.

The flight took almost a full day and for someone with heightened senses it was not fun. Lucky for me though there seemed to be no babies on the flight, although there was plenty of puking passengers and some that just refused to go to sleep.

I was so happy when we touched real ground, I couldn’t wait to stretch my legs and to breath fresh air again.

I was slightly wary of the people that I would be meeting, and those I would be staying with. I had found out that I would not be staying in a hotel like I thought. I would be staying with the family that I was supposed to be visiting. To give me a more personal connection to their life’s and to really understand what they are going through.

It’s part of my job, I visit and help struggling families that my company work to protect. I do cases like this all the time, visiting families that benefit from our work. It is part of my job to see what our funding and guidance does for these people and to see if we are using our funding in the right places.

Normally I am placed at homes that are in near vicinity to where I live but I was offered this as a trial run. I had been working for the company for such a long time that I was offered a job that some other person quit.

It is an amazing opportunity but it will mean that I will be spending more time away from my family and part of this trial is to see if I can handle doing that. It will also be a trial for my parents, especially my mother who took the fire a little harder than my father, after all she was the one who carried the children that she lost in that house.

Once I finally make it through the crowds and off the plane, I begin to search for the car that would be picking me up to take me back to my new home for the next three weeks. It wasn’t hard to find; I could see a couple who look to be in their 30’s standing with a sign that had my name on it.

 They both looked kind enough, although I am confused by their appearance as I was told y the company that they had an almost 20 year old daughter and they only look to be in the early thirties.

Pushing that thought to the side for now, I make my way over to the couple who smile brightly at me when they notice me walking over to them.

The woman reaches out when I get close enough to pull me into a tight hug that almost takes the breath out of me, which is a hard thing for her to do considering I’m over 6ft and she barley looks 5’6.

“Oh Adam! It’s lovely to meet you, I have been so excited to finally meet someone who helped us over the past couple of years” She beams as she holds me to her.

“I’m glad to meet you too” I say because I do mean it. I loved meeting all the people that benefit from our work, I love to help them because I know what it was like to lose my own family and I find it relatable and if I can help someone out of a situation like mine that god knows I would do it.

“Oh just look at you, I could eat you right up…anyway my name is Annie and this is my big brother Ralph” Annie motions to the large man behind her, oh so I was wrong and that wasn’t her husband.

“Nice to meet you Ralph” I say as I stick a hand out towards him. He gives me a genuine smile as he shakes my hand.

“Thank you for everything you have done for my sister, I tried to help her myself but I have a large family to provide for” He tells me.

“It’s no problem, anything I can do for a family in need I will do it, I know first-hand what it is like to have help like this” I tell him as I give his hand a firm shake.

“You must be tired, let’s get you back so you can sleep, lucky for you we don’t live all too far away… that’s why we left the children with Cora, she’s a little hot headed when it comes to the toddlers, has no patience” Annie laughs. I try to smile but the name Cora makes my heart throb a little, reminds me too much of my lost sister.

“Lead the way” I say with a smile, she grins. Ralph takes my bags from me as he and Annie guide us all out of the airport. They have a small car already parked outside. It takes little effort to get all of my belongings into the car and soon enough we are on the road.

It doesn’t take long for us to reach a small two story house next to the beach, already I can see a couple of kids playing in the garden. They are young and at first I think they are unsupervised but then I see the teenage girl doing pullups in the doorway.

Annie exits the car and is instantly jumped on by the two children who are squealing for their mother.

I notice something, the teenage girl is white whilst the rest of Annie’s family are black, I’m guessing she is either adopted or she has one of those weird genes that make her white even if she is from a black family.

I exit the car once Ralph gets out; I really suck at introductions so this should be fun. I am good with children though so that’s a good thing, involves less embarrassment on my part. Teenagers however are a little different to deal with because they are all so stroppy.

“Okay girls, I want you to meet Adam…now he is going to be staying with for a while so you be nice to him and behave yourselves” Annie warns the children once they calmed down slightly. “Adam these are my girls, Wendy and Manar” Annie tells me then looks over at the other girl who is now walking over to us.

The wolf inside me stirs when I see the girls face because she shares such a likeness to my father, she almost looks identical to my sister Laura…it’s almost scary how much they look alike. Or well they would’ve looked alike if Laura was still alive.

“This is Cora, we adopted her when she was 10 years old” Annie tells me then kisses Cora’s head.

I hardly pay attention to what Annie is saying because the sudden likeness seems to increase but this time it is to my other sister Cora, and it all matches. Cora was 10 when there was the fire, the fact that she is called Cora and how she looks almost like my family. There is also something else about her that I wouldn’t have noticed if it were not for her moving towards me slightly, she is a werewolf.

I can smell it on her as clear as day. Now I am almost certain that this is my baby sister but until I am 100% sure that it is her, I will not be confusing this poor girl.

“Hi, my name is Adam it’s nice to meet you Cora” I say to her, my voice shaking slightly as I shake her hand.

“I hear you help families in need, I want to thank you for helping Annie whilst I was gone… it was a rather unexpected trip that took me away from her, I didn’t even hear that Papa died until I got home” Cora tells me.

“Oh don’t even start missy, I know you are just going to star blaming yourself for not being here after his death” Annie warns before she is gently shoving me into the house.

“If I was here then I could’ve done the work that we needed so we could live, you know that it’s hard for you to find work with the twins around” Cora argues with Annie.

“Oh shush dear, this is not what Adam should be hearing when he first arrives, why don’t you keep him company whilst I make him something to eat?” Annie suggests as she makes her way into what must be the kitchen.

Cora sighs then watches as Annie walks away, once she has vanished from sight she turns to me with an almost forced smile.

“Front room is through that way” She tells me then points to a small cosy looking room that is playing soft music. I make my way into the room and onto a sofa.

“Nice place, do you enjoy living here?” I ask Cora as she sits down opposite me. She looks like she doesn’t want to tell me but in the end she starts talking.

“It’s like a second home to me, I find it hard to leave and I think I would only ever leave if it came to my family” She tells me. She fiddles with a table cloth that lies on the table between us.

“So you found your family after being adopted?” I ask her even though I feel like I shouldn’t, she already looks uncomfortable talking about her family and the last thing I need is to make a bad impression.

“Yeah I was away somewhere and I found out that my Uncle and Brother were still around, boy where they shocked to see me… they thought I was dead all those years I lived with Annie” She laughs.

What she says made me think for a moment, if this is Cora then what uncle is alive? And does this mean that Derek is alive, he is our only other brother.

Mom would be so happy if this all turned out to be true, maybe she would even shift again because I know that holding in her wolf is making her slightly depressed and I do not want that for my mother.

I am about to flat out ask Cora if she was my sister when Annie comes in holding a tray of food. I am surprised when someone else follows in behind her, he is holding a couple of glasses and he is smirking in a way that kind of creeps me out.

“Everything okay in here? Cora you didn’t tell me Peter was stopping by today” Annie grins at her daughter. She sits down next to Cora whilst Peter sits next to me. I know exactly who this man is and it answers every question I had about Cora and who she was.

“Adam and I were just talking about my family, and I had no idea Peter was coming by… he just likes to show up, probably sick of Derek already” Cora laughs, the atmosphere is light in cheerful but I feel as if my whole body has been dipped in an ice bath.

All these years I thought the people in this room were dead, I had no idea or even thought about them actually still being alive. How did they even get out of the fire, they weren’t there after it stopped and surely there was no other way for them to get out.

Only Mom knew of the little trap room in the basement that kept the three of us alive. The rest of the building was burning around us; they would’ve died before the even got to the ground floor.  

I didn’t realise that I was being spoken to until someone touched my shoulder. It was Peter, he was grinning smugly at me as if he knew something that I didn’t.

“Are you okay Adam, you zoned out for a little while there?” Annie asks, her face kind but worried.

“J…jus…just t…t…tired that’s a…a…all” I stutter then I stand up quickly.

“Of course, the guest bedroom is upstairs to your right, Ralph probably already dropped your stuff of in there” Annie tells me. I briefly thank her before half running upstairs and into the bedroom I believe to be the guest room.

As soon as the door is closed I allow myself to sink to the floor.


	3. Chapter Three

**Adam**

I know at some point I was going to need to leave the comfort and solitude of this room. I couldn’t sleep forever and frankly it would leave a bad impression on myself and the company, that’s not what I need if I want to continue work like this.

After several of hours curled up on the double bed I decide that it is best to get up and face whatever will happen out there. I pull on some fresh clothes, I then cross to the small room that serves as a toilet, it only has a toilet a sink and a mirror. I splash cold water on my face to waken myself up slightly, then I brush my teeth for almost 10 minutes. I was really just trying to waste as much time as I could.

Once my teeth were clean I had nothing else that I could do in my room so I take a deep breath. I go over to the door, when I open it I find that Annie was on the other side, she jumps slightly when the door opens before she could even knock.

“Oh, Adam! I’m sorry I was just going to see if you wanted any dinner?” She asks and almost as if it knew what she was asking, my stomach began to rumble. I laugh and she joins me.

“I’m going to say yes” I tell her with a large grin, something about Annie just makes me smile. I think it is the motherly vibe coming from her, it reminds me of my own mother.

“Perfect, I will say sorry now, I wasn’t expecting to have guests for dinner but they are Cora’s family and I don’t have the heart to tell them to go for the night” Annie tells me as we make our way down the steps in the entrance hall. I can already hear chatter coming from the direction of the kitchen. “At least it will be a little quieter now the twins have gone to bed” Annie ads as she leads me into the kitchen.

I see that Cora and Peter are here but then I see a man who is slightly unrecognisable. He is packed when it comes to muscle, I would not want to get into a fight with him. He looks like he has a permanent angry face, his eyebrows are slightly furrowed and by the looks of his slight worry lines, this guy witnessed a lot of bad. He has a perfectly sculpted beard that reminds me of dad in some ways, the man would never have it un messy. The beard does make him look older than what I think he might me, actually the worry lines on his face also make him a little older than he should be.

“Okay Adam, you’ve met Cora and Peter but let me introduce you to Cora’s brother Derek” Annie tells me then holds out the seat next to Derek for me to sit down. I see Derek is eyeing me in a way that says that he doesn’t trust me, I feel like he would be growling if he didn’t think I was a human.

“Derek play nice, if it wasn’t for Adam then Annie may have lost her kids” Peter scolds Derek. Cora sighs as Derek sends a glare Peter’s way. I don’t think they like each other very much and that’s weird because the used to get along so well before the fire, when Peter was teaching Derek how to control the shift.

“Now, now none of that, we have a guest that doesn’t need to be dragged into your family drama” Annie scolds as she places a large chicken pie onto the table.

“Sorry Adam, these guys just don’t know when to stop biting at each other’s throats” Cora apologises then hands me the knife, “You are the guest so you should get first piece” She smiles.

“Thank you, and you honestly don’t have to apologise I’m used to it… I had siblings once” I tell her; I plan on setting the bate to see if I can get more information to make sure that I am completely right about this.

Even though it is pretty obvious that these are some of my long lost family members. I mean they all share the Hale traits and the have the same names as my family.

“Once?” Peter asks, a mild interest building in his eyes. Knowing Peter, he will figure it out before the others do. God Mom is going to be so happy when I tell her children and brother are alive.

“Yes, it’s funny they had the same names as you” I laugh then I look between Derek and Cora. Derek instantly turns to look me dead in the eye. He doesn’t look like my brother, well he does he just doesn’t look like how I remember him. He looks like a man.

“W…what were their names?” Cora asks, her eyes brimming with tears.

“We were called, Adam, Laura, Derek and Cora Hale… we were the children of Talia and Henry Hale” I say.

I am met with nothing but silence.


	4. Chapter Four

**Stiles**

The last thing I was expecting was a call from Derek. Specifically, a phone call from Derek in the middle of the day on a Tuesday whilst I was at school, typically getting yelled at for having my phone out in class. I had ignored the first couple of calls until the vibrating of my phone became annoying to everyone in the class, including Coach, who decided to take my phone from me. Therefore, I wasn’t able to accept any calls from Derek.

I had tried calling him off of Scott’s phone, Lydia’s and even Allison’s phone. He just did not answer. This worried everyone so much that it ended up with Scott distracting Coach whilst Lydia, using her small and nimble features, slipped in and stole the phone from right under his nose.

Once my phone was back in my possession it showed that I had 40 missed calls from Derek and at least 5 coming from an unknown number that may or may not be Peter’s.

Running my hands through my hair, which is finally long enough to get a good grip on for when I am nervous. Before anyone could change my mind, the phone was calling Derek back in no time.

Once again there was no answer from him. I was now starting to worry for him, what if he has been hurt and calling me was the only way to keep him safe… oh god I shouldn’t off ignored him. I should’ve run out of class and done anything I could to keep him safe.

“Stiles, he is going to be okay, jeeze why are you so worried about him, I have never seen you like this before” Scott looks so confused with my behaviour. I guess that I would be confused too if I were him considering a month ago I hated Derek.

Ever since he left, something has just been different when it comes to him, and I have no idea if it’s a good thing. Well it’s probably not good if Derek is dead or injured.

Just as I think of the possibility of Derek being dead, my phone buzzes in my hand.  I feel my body relax when I see that it is from Derek, obviously it doesn’t mean that he is okay but It’s close enough.

I open the text to find that it is written in typical Derek fashion, no regard to me or the others.

**“You do know what a phone is for? Maybe answer it next time idiot”**

“He’s okay, still moody as ever buy hey it’s Derek we are talking about here” I tell them and I could see them all relaxing at the news also. The next moment however my phone is ringing and Derek’s name is on the screen.

I answer it quickly, automatically putting it on loudspeaker so that the others could hear whatever was going on and why it was so important.

**_“My parents alive”_ **

This is what we first hear when the phone connects us.

_“What do you mean? They died… in the fire, remember only you, Peter and your sisters survived…” Allison asks_

**_“Well that’s what I thought, captain obvious and it was no thanks to your family that I thought this”_** Derek snarls through the phone, and it’s like he is actually here with us.

 _“Enough Derek, please elaborate on what you are on about, because right now you sound like a raving lunatic”_ I cut him and Allison off before it could become too heated.

 ** _“Peter and I were having dinner with Cora and her family when some guy who works for this family support company came downstairs… he was so familiar to me and I could see that Peter thought the same thing… turns out he is my brother Adam… he got out of the fire because he was the first one my parents could grab and protect”_** Derek actually sniffles, my heart aches for him, I could only imagine what he was feeling. Suddenly him calling me makes sense, I am the only one he could relate with.

_“Wait… you have a brother” Scott asks, sometimes I want to smack him upside the head._

_“Have you spoken to them, your parents I mean?”_ I ask Derek before he has a chance to egg Scott on.

 ** _“No… I ran out once I found out who the guy was, I can hear him talking with Peter and Cora, they are both happy…but I just don’t know what to do about this, less than a year ago I thought I only had Laura and a comatose uncle”_** Derek sounds like he is about to start panicking.

 _“Just take a deep breath… this is going to be a big deal for you Derek, but think about how your brother and sister are feeling right now, you are all going to need time to adjust to this, don’t push yourself to be happy family again if you are not ready to jump back into it… these people could be complete strangers to you, who knows what that fire did to them… look at Peter for example”_ Lydia comments, and of course her suggestion makes the most sense and actually gets Derek to chuckle.

 _“Give yourself time Derek, talk when you are ready to talk”_ I add, Lydia giving me a smile at my support for her.

 ** _“I think I will just go back to the hotel until I figure out what I want to do”_** Derek decides, I can tell he is getting emotional, he will cut himself off before we could hear him getting to that point.

 _“That sounds like a good idea, and don’t worry… I’m here if you need someone to talk to”_ I offer, knowing he probably won’t listen to me.

**_“Thank you”_ ** **He mutters then the phone goes dead.**

My heart aches once the phone goes silent, all I want to do is to make sure Derek is okay, to give him comfort for something this difficult. The guy clearly can’t do this alone, with his emotions he hardly has enough strength to say thank you without hanging up the phone straight after.

A plan suddenly forms in my head and I can tell that the others know that I am up to something. This is not something they can find out about though because I know if they will find out, they will try to stop me and nothing is going to stop me if I have anything to say about it.

Derek needs me so that’s where I will be, anywhere Derek needs me to be.

And right now that place is South America.  


	5. Chapter Five

**Derek**

I take Stiles and Lydia’s advice about waiting until I was ready. Knowing that I would have to face everyone if I went through the house, I decided to wait until the beach was a little clearer then scale over the gardens and garages.

I know that Cora is going to get pissed at me for this, but I don’t care because I know that I am just not ready for this, especially after not long after finding about her. I feel bad for leaving Adam in the care of her and Peter without saying so much as a word to him. I just panicked after he told us about Mom and Dad still being alive, it just seems too good to be true and part of me doesn’t want to believe that it is.

Oh god, what would I say to them if they are alive, I don’t think I could face them when I know that it’s my fault that the fire was lit in the first place. Killing My mom’s friends and they’re children. Children that I once played with or looked after when our parents went out. How can I tell Mom that I was so stupid that I fell in love with a hunter and got people killed… then did the same thing again years later, will they hate me and what I have become?

These are some of the reasons that I won’t go speak to Adam, I don’t want him to know these things about me because I am so ashamed of myself. Hopefully with him talking to Peter first that will soften the blow for me, since he murdered so many people including Laura.

After an hour of sitting on the beach things clear enough for me to make my escape. From where I am I can see into the house, I can see everyone smiling, even Cora is smiling at Peter who actually looks like he is about to cry.

I tear my gaze away from the sight inside, the guilt almost floors me and I don’t think I could take it if I stayed here any longer. So with that last look at my family I take off away from the house. I slip into a neighbour’s garden, just a couple of houses down from Annie’s, her garage makes it easy for me to get over onto the other side of the street.

Once I have crossed over onto the other side, I make my way over to the car Peter and I rented for the month we are down here. I know it’s not right for me to take away Peter’s transport to get home but I find myself unable to care at the moment.

I don’t think I care about anything apart from getting away from here. The sound of my family’s laughter is loud enough to reach my ears and the feelings of guilt and regret are so strong that I just want to scream.

I hurry to the car quickly before anyone could hear me trying to leave, Peter is going to be pissed enough when he finds out that I took the car, I know that if he heard me then he would most likely make me stay and face my fears.

I want to, you have no idea how much I just want to go in there and hold my big brother close, to say I’m sorry for what he had to go through. Thinking that everyone but his parents were dead, he had to live with the thought that his little brother and his sisters were dead. Cora was the one he was always closest with so I know that he is going to be in good hands when I leave.

I want to talk to him, but I know that I can’t…once he finds out the truth, he is not going to ever want to talk to me again. That’s what I can’t face, knowing that they are alive but being shunned by them. It’s what I deserve and maybe it’s selfish for me to run away like this when they are the ones who deserve closure.

I think there is only one person I want to talk to and that’s Stiles. I don’t know why I want to talk to him so bad, maybe it’s because I know that he can relate somewhat when it comes to losing a mother. I want to talk to him but by doing so would that just rub salt in a wound that’s old but will never heal. Why should I be so cruel to him by complaining about how my mother is back whilst his is still dead. I couldn’t do that to the boy.

Before anyone has a chance to hear me, I rev the car and pull away from the pavement quickly, the voices go quiet inside and I know that they have figured out that I have left.

Once I am far enough away from the house I allow myself to do something I haven’t done since the night of the fire, I cry. My sight is blinded by the tears building in my eyes, it’s dangerous for me to do this whilst I am driving and I know that it would be best if I just stopped. Then the thought accrued to me, I don’t care what happens to me, would it just be best if I let myself get hurt? It might give my family some sort of peace to know that the person responsible for the death of their loved ones was dead.

It was at that exact moment that my phone began to ring in my pocket, pulling it out of my trousers I see that the person calling me is Cora, I knew it would happen sooner or later.  

I look at it for a while as it rung too unsure to answer it, my eyes were still slightly blurred due to the tears so it made it hard to see the phone screen.

It also made it hard to see the large truck, that’s until it smashed into my car.


	6. Chapter Six

**Adam**

I couldn’t believe that this was actually happening, not everyone in my family was dead. I had just found my baby brother and sister, well they are no longer babies, they have grown up so much and it just scares me to realise how much I had missed. Finding Uncle Peter was also something I was happy about, he was once my favourite uncle…well I don’t know about him right now considering I heard that he killed Laura.

“I can’t believe you have been alive this whole time” Cora cries into my shoulder, she hasn’t let go of me since finding out who I really was. This was such an amazing moment for me that I couldn’t help but hold her back, crying slightly into her hair.

“I could say the same thing about you, did Uncle Peter take you and Derek in after the fire?” I ask then I remember Annie, so Annie must have adopted Cora somehow.

“Annie found me after the fire, when I got out, and after finding out what happened to me she and her husband didn’t hesitate when it came to adopting me… they didn’t think they could have children at that point” Cora tells me then glances out the window to where we can see Derek sitting on the beach.

“What happened with him?” I ask Cora who looks down slightly. Clearly there was something happening here that I didn’t know about and she seems hesitant to tell me, I let it drop for the moment.

“He and Laura weren’t in the house during the time of the fire, Laura got custody of him and they moved to New York for a while” She tells me then glances at Peter who sighs.

“When are people going to get over that, I said that it was a mistake” Peter groans then comes over to me, he looks like he is getting ready for a fight. “I guess I should tell you, I killed your sister so I was able to take her alpha powers for myself”.

“You…what!” I growl, I try to push Cora off me so I could get to him but she keeps a steady hold around my waist, she is much stronger than she used to be so I find that I am unable to move from her grasp.

“Adam, leave it for now okay… please just let it go until late, I don’t want this to end in a fight, we just got you back…please” Cora begs, pulling me further away from Peter, who was now smartly backing away from me to allow space between us.

Hearing the pleas of Cora and the way she clung to me like a child, it allowed me to get perspective of the bigger picture, plus I will let Mom decide what to do with Peter as she is my alpha.

“You’re right, I will let Mom deal with you” I growl at him before pulling Cora into another room. I would much rather spend time talking with her and catching up on what I missed, than speaking to Peter any longer.

“Is momma really still alive?” Cora asks, and she just sounds so young and innocent that it is actually hard to believe that she is as grown up as she is. The mention of my mother reminds me that I still need to tell her about all of this, I have no idea how she will react… I just hope it’s not the same way Derek reacted.

Speaking of Derek, the sound of his footsteps can be heard from outside the house. I hear him get into a car and drive off quickly.

“Yeah, she’s still alive” I tell Cora once the sound of the car was too far gone to be heard. Cora looks happy with this knowledge but I know I need to warn her that Mom isn’t the same as before, well she is, just a little more lost in her own head.

“Can I speak to her? Will you tell her I’m alive” Cora asks, smiling up at me with so much hope in her eyes. I know that it’s just a tactic she uses when she wants something from me. She knows it works because that’s how she would get me to do things for her when we were much younger.

“I guess, you are my little sister, I would do anything for you… plus mom will be worried that I haven’t called her yet, she is a little more overprotective over me now” I tell her and a little glimmer of sadness crosses her face.

Once I see that sadness I know I will have to do anything I can to change that again. I bring Cora up to the room I will be staying in, deciding that Skyping my mother would be the best thing for both my mother and Cora.

Before Cora allows me to call Mom, she insists on calling Derek to try and convince him to come back. This fails however when Derek refuses to answer her. With a sigh she puts her phone to the side for now then motions for me to start.

It doesn’t take long to set everything up, I have Cora sitting beside me to take away some of the shock, perhaps Mom will recognise her. Considering how alike Cora and I look I don’t think it will be hard for her to figure it out. I don’t know how to tell her about Derek or Laura though and I will probably have to bring Peter in here at some point, even though I would rather that I didn’t have to see him. I won’t tell mother about what he did until we are all together again.

It takes a little while for Mom to answer, she is not the best with technology, no matter how hard she tries or how many times I try to teach her, she just can’t get the hang of it. Once she has answered I can see that she is alone so that means Dad is still at work.

I hear Cora give a small breath, she looks ready to cry and I can’t blame her as I would probably feel the same way. Mom smiles at me and looks like the sight of me has actually made her relax a great deal, I shouldn’t have taken so long to call her, I know how much she worries over me.

“Hey baby, how are you enjoying it so far?” Mom asks, she is sitting at her desk so I know she has been writing. She likes to write about her experiences with dealing with losing her family, in case it may help someone else deal with their loss.

“So much better than I could have ever expected, Mom I want to introduce you to someone” I say, wrapping my arm around Cora. She snuggles slightly into my side, her head rests on my shoulder as she tries not to cry.

“Oh my…” Mom starts; she looks like she is about to start crying. She grips onto her desk slightly, something she does when she gets stressed. I think it’s a nervous habit of not having her claws anymore, I just wish she would allow herself to change so her claws would grow back in. “I’m sorry… you just look like someone I know” Mom tries to compose herself but Cora and I can both tell that she is finding it hard.

“That’s because you do know me” Cora gasps out, if it weren’t for my enhanced hearing I don’t think I would’ve been able to hear her, “It’s me momma… it’s Cora” she finally lets her tears fall.

Mom just stares, her eyes scanning everything about Cora, as if she was going over a mental checklist. She seems convinced after several minutes of searching Cora’s face.

“My baby girl… oh my sweet girl, oh you are alive… momma loves you oh my dear I love you so much” Mom sobs then rest’s her hand beside the camera as if she was trying to reach through the screen and touch Cora for herself.

“I love you too Momma, I missed you so much… I thought you were dead, I thought everyone was dead” Cora hugs me harder, it’s as if she is compensating for not having Mom here.

“I’m right here baby girl, I’m not going to go away again, I’m going to come to you… me and your father, we will come see you baby” Mom promises then pushes back from her desk, as if she was planning on running the whole way over here.

“That’s not all Mom…” I start, the door opening distracts me momentarily. Peter comes bounding in, looking worried and annoyed.

“Do you not know how to answer a phone, what is the point in having it when you don’t use it for anything important” He growls at Cora before coming around and grabbing her phone from the bed.

“Who is that… is that-“ Mom starts but is cut off by Peter again, god why won’t he just tell us what he is on about.

“What is it!” Cora snarls then grabs her phone, there is a bunch of missed calls from an unknown caller. She looks up at Peter, expecting an answer.

“I just got a call from the hospital, telling me that Derek has gotten himself into a car crash, he is in a coma now” Peter tells us softly, I think he has finally realised who we were talking to.

There was a sob from the other side of the computer before the camera turns itself off. I have no idea what happened or what she is doing, part of me thinks by this time tomorrow I will be seeing her here.

“Why are we just sitting here, did you not hear what I said? Derek… in a car crash… now in a coma, how will we explain it to the doctors when he heals in next to no time” Peter shoos us off the bed and towards the door.

Knowing he is right, I need to worry about Derek first then I will think of what to do about Mom and Dad.

Worry suddenly takes over me, I can’t lose my little brother just when I thought that I had him back again.

I won’t let that happen.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Stiles**

I could possibly be grounded for the rest of my life for what I am doing right now. Entering a plane that is bound for South America, without telling anyone. I did leave a note telling them that I am okay and that I would be home soon, I just need to make sure Derek is okay. I just know he is going to be blaming himself right now and that’s something he shouldn’t do. I have a feeling he will listen to me, and I want to go there before he does anything stupid.

“Enjoy your flight sir” A pretty flight attendant greets me as she checks my ticket. Once she has shown me where my seat is located I speed walk my way over there, as if me walking faster could make this whole journey quicker. Once I get to my seat I see that there is already someone sitting there, already relaxing against the chair, with his hood pulled up over his head.

He will probably just try to sleep the whole way there and that’s fine with me, as long as he doesn’t snore. I quietly try to shove my carry-on luggage into the overhead compartment, but of course that doesn’t work and the man starts to stir slightly. Thinking that it would be best, I shove the bag in loudly and quickly before shutting the compartment again.

Once done, I sit down in my seat with a flop. I am so tired, I stayed up all last night booking this trip, deciding what to say to Derek when I just turned up out of the blue.

I close my eyes, trying once again to think of a way to explain myself to him. How do I tell him that I wanted to travel all this way just to make sure he was okay? I don’t have a clue how to say it because I know we are supposed to hate each other, but what I am doing doesn’t make it seem that way.

A sudden sigh from the man next to me alerts me to the fact that the man is awake. Finding it a little weird, I decide not to open my eyes.

That plan failed when the man suddenly starts talking to me… using my name.

“Stiles, I sometimes don’t think that you really consider what you are doing until after it all goes wrong” My eyes snap open and to my left I can see that the man I was sitting next to was Deaton.

“W…what are you doing here!” I yell, getting half of the passenger’s attentions, as well as some flight attendants. Some of them send me glares as if they are daring me to be loud on this flight.

“Scott told me what happened with Derek, and I was just going to satisfy my own curiosity” Deaton answers, “What do you think you are doing, I believe your father will not be happy about this” Deaton asks, his wise eyebrows raising.

“Well… I uh…” I trail off as I try to think of a good lie. I can’t flat out say that I did this just to make sure Derek was okay, because even though it’s the truth it sounds stupid even to me.

Before I can even think about a good lie, Deaton is calling me out.

“Don’t lie to me Stiles, I have met greater liars than you and they have been unable to get past me” Deaton warns before resting back in his chair again.

“I wanted to make sure Derek was okay, I know he won’t be taking this well and will most likely be blaming himself for everything again, and for some reason I just can’t let him feel that way because I know it’s not true” I babble as I try to explain myself to him.

“Hmm, yes I can see that would be how Derek will handle all of this” Deaton muses, a look on his face makes me think he is not telling me something, but then again Deaton is always hiding something up his sleeve.

With that last comment from Deaton we both sit in silence again. I copy his movements of lying back in my chair, waiting on the plane to take off as it is always my favourite part of a plane ride.

And that was how most of the journey went, Deaton was quiet for most of the rise, only speaking to me when he wanted to get out of his seat to get to the bathroom. My time was spent either looking at Deaton to figure out if he was sleeping or not, or I just slept myself.

Once we got off the plane I was about to go my own way, my step was to go to where I knew Peter and Derek were living, I was stopped in my tracks by Deaton who looked unhappy.

Stiles, you can’t think that I am going to let you go off by yourself… I have more respect to your father than that, we are both here for the same reason so we will stick together” Deaton says, then he grabs my bag before I have the time to argue with him. Part of me doesn’t want to because Deaton will be the most sensible one out of the two of us and that’s not what I need right now. Then on the other hand I know that it would be safer with him with me, and perhaps it will make Dad happier to know I am with someone that he knows and can sort of trust, he wouldn’t trust me being alone with Derek and Peter.

With a sigh I follow Deaton around the airport. It was after a while that I remembered that I should turn my phone on and get the brunt of what is coming for me. As to be expected Dad is so angry, Scott thinks that I am being stupid and that I’m making a mistake… he liked to remind me of that fact over and over again in every message and voicemail he sent me.

Another text suddenly got my attention, it was from Derek’s phone but it was so obviously not written by him. It seems like it was from Peter, but that’s not what struck my attention.

“Deaton we need to go to a hospital… Derek is there” I say suddenly. Deaton turns to look at me, eyebrows raised in question. My news was a little blunt and out of the blue.

“I got a message from Peter, he needed me to get to Scott because Derek is in the hospital and they need your help” I tell him.

“What happened to him, we will need to get there quickly so we can think of a way to get him out of this without becoming some medical miracle” Deaton suddenly picks up his pace, “Call Peter and let him know what is happening and that we will be there as soon as we can”.

I hurry to keep up with him, he can be fast when he wants to be and with my bag slowing me down, it is slightly harder to keep pace with him.

I am panicking slightly because for Derek to be in the hospital this whole thing has to be very bad. Knowing Derek, he wouldn’t go into hospital if he had any choice in the matter. Oh god how hurt is he? What if it was hunters than done something to him, what if he’s not healing properly.

All these bad thoughts start to whirl around in my head as I half run beside Deaton, I am trying to pull my bag along behind me whilst trying to text Peter back to let him know that we are actually here and we will be at the hospital as soon as humanly possible.

Once the text is sent I didn’t expect him to answer me back, so I was surprised when I received an answer.

_“Why am I not surprised that one of you decided to run all the way over here, I half expected it to be Scott so I am little surprised that it is you considering how much you and Derek hate each other”_

Deciding that I can’t deal with Peter right now, I chose to ignore his message. By this time, Deaton and I had managed to make it outside. Thanks to Deaton thinking ahead, we didn’t need to go through the process of getting a taxi because a rental car was already waiting there for us.

The whole ride to the hospital I was a bundle of nerves. Why was I so worried for the sake of Derek, this time three month ago I would be happy or less sad that Derek was hurt but now something seems to have changed. I might be due to the fact that Derek and I are able to relate to each other, or maybe it’s everything we went through with the human sacrifices and evil druids not too long ago.

Once we get there, Deaton calm and collected with me stressed and freaking out beside him. We are directed to a room by a sympathetic looking nurse, who fails to help soothe my nerves. Is that not part of her job, to make sure that people are not freaking out.

“You look terrible” A voice says from behind us whilst we are making our way to Derek’s room. Turning around I see Cora, looking tired with red rings around her eyes. She has obviously not been to sleep, considering the large coffee cup in her hand.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask as she leans in to hug me. This is surprising, Cora has never acted this way towards me before… perhaps it’s the lack of sleep that is making her so nice to me.

“Yeah, just so much is happening all at once… I am glad you are here though, Derek could use someone like you around, remind him of home” Cora smiles at me then at Deaton, “Sure we are his family but it’s going to take time for him to get to use to us all being around again, you were one of the first people he had after Laura died… even if he hates you” Cora laughs slightly.

“May I ask what happened to him?” Deaton cuts in before I could reply with something sarcastic. He sounds very professional; like he was dealing with an injured animal back home or something else completely normal.

“He um, didn’t take the news of our family being alive very well… he bolted out the door before anyone could even move, he sat on the beach for a while before taking off” Cora looks down sadly, “He was on the phone whilst in his car, we think his high emotions took over and he wasn’t aware of what he was doing… wasn’t aware of the truck heading his way” Cora gives a shaky sigh before looking back up at us.

“Can I see him?” I ask, she gives a small shake of her head.

“Family only, Peter and Adam are with him now” She tells me, she starts to walk towards what must be a waiting room. “You can’t go in until later… while we wait we should think of a plan to get him out of this”.

“How fast is he healing?” Deaton asks, he looks pensive.

“He is almost completely healed but the hospital has him down for surgery in less than two hours” Cora informs us.

“So we need to get him out of here before that happens, our only option is for him to just get up and walk out of here… we will need a distraction though” Deaton stands up and begins to pace.

“How are we going to sneak someone like Derek out of here, he is kind of hard to miss” I say, this gains me two weird looks from both Derek and Cora.

“You are going to do it Stiles”

 


	8. Chapter Eight

**Stiles**

Deaton has gone insane, there is no other plausible reason for him to leave me in charge of getting Derek out of the hospital without anyone noticing us.

His reasons for leaving me in charge are beyond stupid. He believes that I can smuggle and injured Derek out of the hospital because he knows I was able to hold Derek up for hours when we got trapped in the pool by Jackson. I tried to explain to him that the only reason I was able to do that was the use of the water and that I almost died doing it.

He didn’t listen to me however, neither did Cora, Peter or Derek’s unhelpful brother Adam (who is actually a lot more tolerable than Derek). They all agree that I could do this.

So that is how I find myself stumbling down the fire escape in the hospital, with a half conscious Derek leaning heavily on me. Screw everyone for making me do this, Derek is a lot heavier than he looks, and I am weaker than I look, which is quite weak considering the way I am.

“What’s goin on?” Derek mumbles as we stumble down another staircase, only several away from reaching the bottom where Peter will meet us.

“Don’t worry big guy, we’re going to get your stupid sourwolf ass outta here, maybe you could help me here” I ask but I know it is no use, Derek is out of it and I know it’s only a matter of moments before he falls asleep again.

Sensing that this will happen sooner rather than later, I pick up my pace, the sound of Peter talking to someone has now reached my ears so I know I’m not that far from the bottom.

A sudden weight has been taken off of my shoulders, turning to my right I see that Cora has appeared on the other side of Derek and she is now taking most of his weight as we continue down to Peter.

“Took you long enough, we don’t have a lot of time here Stilinski” Peter grumbles when we finally get to the bottom. He stands holding an escape door open, the automatic lock has been smashed open so I know that it won’t be long until someone comes to check it out.

“Your welcome” I snap as Cora and I push past him. Outside the door waits Adam who is holding open the car door, I can already see Deaton sitting in the driver’s seat, ready to drive as soon as we are all in the car.

I let go of Derek so I could get in, ready to help Cora settle Derek into the car. Once she and Derek have both got in, Adam and Peter squish into the front of the car next to Deaton. Once the door has shut behind Peter we are speeding away.

“Where are we going?” Cora asks, she was trying to keep Derek from falling onto her in his sleep, she was failing. I could tell she was getting annoyed with Derek’s body weight pushing her into the side of the car, so with a grunt I pull Derek over closer to me until he is flush at my side, his head lolling back onto the headrest behind him.

“The house Derek and I were staying in, it belongs to a friend who was more than happy to let us use it whilst we were here” Peter tells us, he sounds slightly cryptic which makes me fear for the safety of these so called friends of Peter’s.

“Will it be safe to keep Derek there?” Adam asks, he looks worried for Derek. It is so unreal how much Derek and Adam look like each other, I also think all Hales just come with good looks, it must be inherited or some weird wolf thing.

“Please, Derek was not their main priority. They will send a couple of officers to try and track him down but it won’t be that big of a deal” Peter scoffs like this was common knowledge. Well excuse us for not knowing the inner workings of a hospital, just because most of our time is spent there doesn’t mean we are experts.

“So what are we going to do, just sit around and wait until he decided to wake up, what if he is in pain and we have nothing to give him” I fret slightly.

“Stiles you do remember that you in a car with three perfectly healthy werewolves that can help Derek whenever he needs it” Deaton points out. I feel slightly stupid for not remembering that people like Cora and Peter can take away pain, who forgets something like that.

“So who are you exactly?” Adam asks, he has turned around in his seat to look at me. His eyes are full of wonder with a slight hint of suspicion. He must be wondering who I am and why I am so worried over his brother.

“I know Derek from back home in Beacon Hills, he has helped me and my friend Scott come to terms with everything supernatural after Peter gave Scott the bite” I tell him, by the glare Adam sends to Peter I am guessing that he has been informed on what Peter has done.

“You don’t look like someone Derek would be friends with” Adam looks me up and down, his face looks like he is contemplating something. It makes me feel a little bit like a piece of meat on show and I don’t like it.

“We’re not friends… we don’t particularly get on, but he phoned me when all this started going down and I could tell he needed someone familiar to talk to and we have some things in common that could allow me to help him through this” I tell him. He stares hard at me, I can tell he is thinking over what I said, I suddenly feel scared so I hope that I didn’t say the wrong thing after all. After a moment though he smiles.

“Thanks you, for looking out for him like this… he could use someone like you when my parents get here” Adam sighs before leaning back into his seat.

Oh god, I didn’t think ahead to what would happen if Derek met his parents. If this is how he acted when finding out about Adam, then I fear for what’s to come. I know that I am going to need to be close by when all of this happens.

“Here we are, Stiles help Cora out with Derek again, take him to his room and put him to bed” Deaton orders as he gets out of the car. Once out he holds the door open for Derek, Cora, and I.

“Why me, I am the weak one out of all of you” I grumble as I help Cora get Derek out of the car, we arrange ourselves to make sure we are comfortable.

No one listens to my complaining as we walk into the house, it’s really unfair that they are making me do all the hard stuff when they are the ones that could lie or bribe their way out of anything, plus they are all stronger and faster than I am so it would make sense for them to do it rather than me.

After some struggling when it came to getting him up the stairs, we finally manage to get Derek into bed. Cora sets about removing his shoes and socks whilst I raid through his drawers for something a little more comfortable.

“Stiles, this may be asking a lot but do you think you could dress him, I’m not entirely comfortable dressing him” Cora asks as she stands back from her brother.

Panic automatically goes through me at the idea of undressing Derek. Sure I have seen his torso more time than I should but I have yet to come face to face with his junk, and to be honest it scares me how much it doesn’t bother me that I am about to see it. Cora grins at me, obviously she can scent how I am feeling which is pretty embarrassing.

“Y…yeah I can do that, happy to help” I say even though I don’t sound too sure of myself. She thanks me before walking out of the room leaving me alone to face this by myself.

Okay, okay… this can’t be too hard, I’m making it worse than what it is. All I need to do is remove his shirt and trousers, then replace them with a pair of soft sweats. Okay I can do this without making a fool of myself in front of those downstairs. Maybe I should call Adam or Peter up to help me, I mean they are his family so it shouldn’t matter if they see him half naked.

Knowing that’s only going to make me seem stupid I decide against calling someone else up to help me with this. Also this is what I came to do, help Derek and currently this is what I will need to do to make sure that he is okay.

Sighing I walk over to his unconscious body, feeling a little creepish doing this to someone who is not awake.

Getting his shirt of is easy enough, he is limp enough that it slips off without any issues. His trousers are another thing, his jeans are pretty tight around the waist and it takes a lot of upper body strength to get them off without waking him. Once they are off I pull the sweats onto him.

I give myself a mental pat on the back for doing this without anything bad happening. I had done my first thing to help Derek and it made me feel happy, although even though he is in more comfortable clothing, he doesn’t look comfy in the position he is in. Perhaps I should move him before I go back downstairs.

I move several pillows from the other side of the bed onto the ones Derek was currently lying on. I then pull the blankets back that he was on so I am able to cover his body with it, just to make sure he is warm, I tuck the blankets in around him.

Before I go back down to the others I go into the bathroom that joins onto Derek’s room. Finding a glass in there, I clean it out before filling it with cold water. I then dig around the bathroom until I find some very strong pain killers that would be fit for a werewolf. Just in case Derek wakes up in any pain, I rest the drink and the pills on his bedside table.

I am finally satisfied that Derek has everything he needs I leave the room, a small smile on my face.

I am unaware of the fact that I am being watched by a half asleep Derek.


	9. Chapter Nine

**Stiles**

By the time I finally get back downstairs there are more people in the room. A man and a woman are sitting on the sofa, Cora cuddled between them. They both look like Derek and Cora so that must mean they are their parents.

I freeze when I realise who they are, how could they just turn up after everything that just happened… Derek is so beyond not ready to see them. I am about to backtrack back up to the bedroom when an arm wraps itself around my shoulder… Peter.

“Look who has finally decided to join us, never known anyone to take that long to dress someone” Peter laughs, I shrug out of his grasp because even his presence is creepy let alone his touch.

“Oh, Mom Dad this is Stiles Stilinski” Cora jumps up to pull me further into the room. Something about being in the room with these people, Cora included, makes me feel uncomfortable. Just the knowledge that I stood in the house that burnt around them, killing most of them… then to be in the same room as them, they people I thought to be dead, makes me feel light headed.

“Ah, I remember your parents, lovely couple… I’m sorry about your mother” Mrs Hale gets up and makes her way over to me. “Thank you for taking care of Derek for us… I know you shouldn’t have done it alone but you needed your time to nest” She smiles.

Wait, what?

“What do you mean nest?” I ask her making a suddenly confused look cross over her face. She looks behind me at Deaton who was standing silently to the side of the room. “Deaton what does she mean?” I ask but he only shakes his head.

“It’s just an expression Stiles, she means that you needed to get comfortable in your new surroundings and to do that you needed to take care of Derek” He tells me, it doesn’t sound right but I take his word for it.

“How is Derek” Cora asks from where she sits with her father. I don’t know how she is able to be so calm about this, shouldn’t she be more like Derek. Actually when I think of it she wasn’t that freaked out about finding Derek alive.

“Still sleeping, I don’t know when he will wake up but whilst I was dressing him I noticed that he is pretty much healed already” I tell them. They all seem to relax slightly, just as I did when I saw that he was getting better.

I really need to figure out what is going on with me right now and why I am so suddenly concerned for Derek… it’s weird. I also need to figure out why I was so nervous about seeing Derek practically naked when I have done the same thing for Jackson, and that asshole was actually naked when I dressed him. Why do I find myself in situations that involve me re dressing naked dudes all the time?

A thud from upstairs catches my attention and makes everyone else in the room stop talking. Perhaps Derek is not as asleep as I thought he was. Mrs Hale suddenly stand up as if she is going to find out what was going on, but I know Derek is not going to react well to that.

“No!” I yell, standing in front of the door so she can’t leave. Oh god did I really just do that to a very powerful alpha, and to a mother who hasn’t seen her child in almost ten years. Do I suddenly have a death wish?

“Why can’t she go” Peter asks he seems fed up with all the drama going on around him. Sometimes Peter deserves a slap in the face, he needs to wake up and realise not everyone is him and that this will hurt Derek.

“…I’m just going to be honest here because I am the only one that is thinking about what is best for Derek… if he reacted badly to Adam being back, so badly that he ended up in hospital, then how do you think he will react to seeing you” I say bluntly, it sounds pretty rude if I am being honest.

“Stiles is right, this is the reason he is even here… after finding out about Adam, Derek called Stiles telling him that he wasn’t ready for this… you need to wait for Derek to come to you” Deaton backs me up then motions for me to go up the stairs.

I do what he says without argument, I am very curious as to what Derek was doing upstairs. Once I get there I find him sitting against the bathroom door, the painkillers clutched in his hand whilst the glass of water was spilled around his feet.

“I dropped it… I just wanted water, that’s all I wanted then I dropped it” Derek says and he sounds close to crying. It hurts something deep inside me to hear him this way and if I am being honest it kind of scares me, I don’t like feeling this this and all I want to do is make Derek feel better, this is so weird.

“Hey, it’s okay we will get you some water” I try to sooth him, I crouch down in front of him so I could look him in the eye. He tries his best to avoid looking at me but he is forced to when my hand covers the hand that is clutched around the painkillers.

“Why are you here Stiles, why are you here helping me” Derek whispers, I swear I have never seen someone so broken before and the fact that it is Derek just seems so alien. I almost don’t think I can do this by myself but I know that this is what he needs and that I will do anything to make sure he is okay.

“You would do the same for me, now let’s get you into bed huh?” I ask as I try my hardest to pull him up from the floor. I struggle for a moment before he allows himself to be pulled up by me. He swings an arm around my shoulder as we make our way back over to the bed, although it was a completely unnecessary action as I am leaning on him more than he is leaning on me. It just hit me how tired I really am after the journey it took for me to get here, I think Derek knows this and that’s why he is allowing me to rest against him.

“Your dad is going to kill me for making you do this” Derek grumbles. He drops himself back down onto the bed with a large sigh and a slight wince of pain.

“You made me do nothing, this was my own choice and I don’t regret doing it… who knows what would’ve happened to you if I wasn’t here” I say through a yawn. I then go about making Derek another glass of cold water, which I soon follow up by cleaning the water he spilt before.

“You are going to be no help to me passes out from exhaustion” Derek complains then swallows down the pills in one big gulp.

“I can’t very well leave you alone can I, don’t worry about me, you just get some rest” I push him back down onto the bed after I take away the glass from him.

I am about to turn and leave the room when a hand suddenly grabs my wrist, preventing me from going anywhere.

“Compromise? You and I both need sleep but you don’t want to leave me… we have a double bed here so why don’t you just take the other side” Derek then let’s go of my hand so he could flip the cover back on the other side of the bed for me.

“Derek, really I am fine- “I start but he cuts me off.

“Look I can tell when you are lying… not even a wolf could handle what you have done in the past 48 hours, get into bed” Derek orders.

With a sigh I kick off my shoes so I could join him in bed. This is all so weird, if you told me three days ago that I would be sleeping in the same bed as Derek Hale in south America, I would think you insane.

Once I settled down, I find that this bed is like sleeping on clouds, I have never been so warm or comfortable in my life. The presence of Derek beside me is not as weird as I thought it would be, in fact it is actually very comforting.

All of these things combined together is what sends me off into the most peaceful sleep I have ever had.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Stiles**

When I next wake up the only thing I can feel is warmth and confusion. I also feel like I don’t ever want to move from the position I am currently lying in. That is what finally makes me wake up from whatever is happening and I remember that I am in bed with Derek Hale.

I then notice that I have moved from the position that I was lying in last night. I am now right up beside him, my head nestled in the crook of his neck whilst his arms hold me tightly to him.

This is not good; how did this even happen…which one of us initiated the cuddling. I pray to god that it was not me, I don’t need this hanging over my head for someone like Scott to find out about, or worse, for someone like Isaac to find out.

How am I going to get out of this predicament without waking Derek up, there is no way for me to move without also moving him. I then notice that one of Derek’s legs is wrapped around the both of mine, trapping me against him.

This is so embarrassing, but it’s also kind of nice. I have never had anyone hold me this way before and it feels nice and I wouldn’t mind being held like this again. I wouldn’t actually mind having Derek hold me like this again.

That thought makes me freeze, why would I think something like that? I am supposed to be the one who hates Derek, and he is supposed to be the one who hates me. He is not supposed to hold me to him like I am the last living thing he has.

My body tensing seems to be what wakes Derek up because a second later he is moving my body away from him gently, he probably thinks I am still asleep. It’s probably not best for me to let him take the blame when it could have been me who done this to him.

When my head hits the pillow I hear Derek get out of the bed. I open my eyes slightly to watch him stretch his muscles, some of the ones in his back make a satisfying crack.

As much as I hate to admit it Derek looks beautiful in the morning, and that’s weird for me to say but It is true. It’s the morning and I am not properly functioning so I will let myself think whatever I want for now.

I think Derek is the only one who can pull off having a bed head, and those weird lines you get on your skin from lying somewhere too long. Even when he stretches he looks amazing, parts of him are showing from him low riding trousers that I have never seen before, and boy am I glad I have seen them.

With that thought I close my eyes because I suddenly feel guilty for looking at him this way. It is super creepy and probably violating his personality.

I am so glad that I closed my eyes when I did because I can feel Derek getting back onto the bed, his presence looming over me for a moment before the feeling of sheets being draped over me distracts me.

Is Derek tucking me into bed? What is happening here, everything is suddenly off balance. Both Derek and I caring for each other and the fact that I am suddenly attracted to Derek in some way that I can’t explain. Oh god what if I am starting to fall for Derek Hale.

I don’t know how I would live that down. Scott and my dad would both probably be so ashamed in me, and the rest of the pack would probably make fun of me for falling for someone like Derek Hale, someone who would never like me back in a million years. I think I would die if Derek found out about any of that, he would be so disgusted that someone like me would like him, he would swear of dating for good after everything that happened to him, I would just be the icing at the top of the cake.

No one can ever know that I have any sort of feelings for Derek, it’s bad enough that they all know about me running off to South America just to make sure he was okay. I wonder if me liking him has anything to do with the actions that I have been doing over the past couple of days.

Once Derek has finished tucking me into bed he gets up from the bed, I peek open my eye again to see that he is making his way to the bathroom, slightly shoving his trousers down as he goes. Just before the door shuts behind him I get a brief glimpse of what Derek has been hiding from this world, and boy I regret not looking at it more often.

With a small groan I pull the blankets up over my head as if they would hide me from the thoughts going through my head about Derek’s ass. I really need to stop having these thoughts or they could get me into trouble, I kind of regret seeing it because now it’s probably going to fuel any daydream I may have.

At some point I must have fallen back to sleep because the next thing I know I am waking up with Derek sitting next to me fully dressed. He is reading a book, looking like he doesn’t have a care in the world.

“Afternoon” He greets me gruffly, without even lowering his book. I push myself to look at him and I can tell I must have been asleep for a while considering the fact that Derek looks to have been there for a while, the creases in the pillows tell me that for sure.

“How long was I out?” I ask as I run my hands through my messy sleep hair, I probably look like a mess compared to him but then again Derek is on another level that I could never compare to.

“Around 13 hours” Derek answers, now looking up from his book. A look of fondness suddenly crosses his face as he watches me fall back against the pillows with a huff.

“You should’ve woken me” I grumble and he chuckles slightly at me.

“You are not a morning person” He laughs then closes his book so he could look at me properly.

“Thought it was afternoon” I reply before hiding my face in the pillow, how could I still be tired after all that time I was asleep.

“It’s morning for you, get up we need to talk” He shoves me with his foot slightly. I groan in answer, still not ready to get up and face the day. I know that I am going to need to call my dad today to let him know that I’m okay. “Stiles you need to go home” Derek says after a moment of silence.

“Wait, why? I came here to make sure you were okay, I can’t just leave after one day” I argue, suddenly wide awake and staring at him.

“Yes you can and you will, I’m thankful that you came but you can’t just drop everything back home and come here, your dad has been calling you all morning” Derek snaps then pushes himself off of the bed so he could retrieve my phone that is somehow lying on the desk across the room.

“Hey it was my choice to come here, and I didn’t have much going on back home anyway so I haven’t dropped anything” I reply, crossing my arms and staring at him, refusing to even blink until my eyes started to burn, “and I can deal with my dad, I am more worried about you and what you are going to do with that lot downstairs” I snap at him.

“I can handle on my own… why do you even care so much about me, a couple of months ago you hated me and even wished that I would die” Derek argues back, he is clearly getting angry now and I have no idea why, I am only trying to help him.

“Clearly you can’t handle this on your own, the last time you tried you almost got yourself killed and I was the one who had to save your ass from the hospital… and I never wanted you dead you are just an ass!” I yell back, I am now getting annoyed at him for being annoyed at me. If anyone has reasons to be annoyed, it is me.

“God Stiles! I don’t understand you, all the time you are complaining that I am an ass or that you hate me but then you travel all this way just to make sure that I was okay when a simple phone call would’ve done the job” Derek kicks out at the desk, leaving a dent in the wood.

“You think you are easy to read… half the time I think you hate me but then you do things that make me feel like that is not the truth and it messes with my head, why can’t you just tell me how you feel about me like what you do with everyone else… in fact why can’t you just tell me why you hate me so much when I have done nothing to you!” I am really getting frustrated here and if it goes any further I know that I am going to say something that I will most likely regret.

“Do you really want to know? I like you Stiles, I like you more than I should like you because you are an annoying and sarcastic teenager who doesn’t know when to shut up… and I act the way I do towards you because it’s the only way to keep you safe in this world that you have thrown yourself into!” Derek lashes out again, knocking everything off of the desk. After that he turns around and leans on his arms that rest against the wall, he is breathing heavy and it sounds a little shaky, like he is trying to keep himself together.

I have no idea what to say to that. Whatever I was thinking before has now gone from my head and the only thing that is there now is just the word, what. Never ever in my life would I have thought that Derek would like me like this, I was convinced that he hated me, I never expected that it was actually the opposite of hate.

“Say something” Derek whispers after a moment of silence, but I still can’t think of anything to say to him that could describe how I am feeling. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything” Derek whispers again after I don’t answer him.

“No! I um, I am glad you told me… I just don’t know what to say to that, never in a million years was I expecting that” I say finally and thank god it makes him turn around to look at me. His eyes look a little watery which takes me aback, in the past day or two this is the most emotion I have seen from Derek in the whole time I have known him.

“I tried so hard to keep it a secret from you, from everyone really but some of the smarter people figured it out” Derek sighs then comes over to sit on the far side of the bed from me, making sure that there was as much space between us as possible.

“What? Like who?” I ask him, how could someone figure this out and who has been keeping this a secret from me.

“Deaton figured it out first then he must have hinted about it to Scott because he was next to know, then Lydia found out a couple of months back when she first found out about all of this stuff and was doing some research on werewolves” Derek answers. I suddenly feel very betrayed that some of my friends, especially Scott, would keep something like this from me. I have been going on and on for years about not having anyone like Scott has Allison or Lydia having Jackson, and here I am finding out that someone like Derek Hale has the hots for me.

“I’m going to kill them for not telling me” I say after a moment; it makes Derek chuckle slightly.

“Don’t blame them, I was the one who told them not to tell you… there is something that I haven’t told you and I didn’t want to throw it at you at such a young age” Derek tells me then looks down at the bed, “When werewolves, especially born wolfs, find someone they truly love then they mate for life… that’s why I am so protective of you, I don’t know what I would do if you died Stiles” Derek sighs, he keeps his head down so he doesn’t have to look at me.

“But what about all the other people you have loved? Kate, Jennifer or even that girl from high school that Peter told me about” I ask, I don’t know what I am trying to prove here, I should be happy that Derek feels this way about me. Sure I don’t know if I am on the same level of feelings that Derek is on but I am happy enough to get to that level in time.

“I never loved any of them, Both Paige and Kate were just false love, a foolish teenager falling in love with the idea of love… and Jennifer was just a passing affair to distract me from my feelings for you” Derek explains, “I could never love anyone the way I will love you” Derek adds.

He looks depressed. With everything that is happening to him I don’t think I blame the guy for looking the way he does, maybe I should just tell him that I like him back and that I am willing to work on us, that might cheer him up if he loves me the way he says he does.

“Well I am not on the level of love but I do like you in that way Derek, and I am willing to work on us if you are… our relationship has not been the best so it’s going to take some time to get over everything that we have done, we are going to need to take it slow” I tell him. His head snaps up to look at me, I find that I like it when he does that.

“Don’t kid with me Stiles… are you being serious right now?” Derek asks, he looks a cross between happy and dis believing.

“Derek c’mon it’s me, the guy who is always complaining about not having someone and being the only virgin in the pack… even though that’s something that we won’t be changing for a while…” I say once I see his eyebrows raise as the comment, “…anyway, I am always complaining about being the only single one so when someone like you comes along and says that you like me and want to possible be my boyfriend, then I am not going to turn you down” I smile at him.

“Something we won’t change?” Derek grins at me. It’s a weird sight to see, Derek Hale smiling at someone like me, well I guess I should be expecting that to happen much more now that he might become my boyfriend.

“Shut up sourwolf” I hit him with a pillow making him laugh slightly. After that it is quiet for a while, Derek is watching me with a fond smile as I play with a piece of thread attached to the blanket that was covering me. When Derek suddenly talks it make me jump slightly.

“I think I am ready to see my family” He announces, a look of new found confidence on his face.

“Really? What changed your mind?” I ask, daring to reach out and take a gentle hold of his hand. He grips it tightly, as if he was afraid to let it go.

“You did” He answers simply.

“Me? What did I do?” I squeak out, not expecting that to be Derek’s answer at all. He doesn’t answer straight away, he is too busy staring at our hands, one of his thumbs is stroking over the back of my hand and it feels nice.

“I know that if I managed to get you in my life this way then I can do anything, you have given me the confidence to face this” Derek answers then moves his free hand to my face.

This all feels weird, but also slightly nice. It’s so out of character for Derek and I’s relationship, we have never been so close like this that was not in a situation of life or death, or unconsciousness.

“Well I am glad that I can give you that” I say, leaning into his hand slightly.

We stay like that for a while. I am comfortable with this and Derek is happy to respect that I want to take this relationship slow so he is not going to pressure me into doing anything else right now. If this was anyone else this would probably have led to a make out session. It’s not like I don’t want to kiss Derek, the idea sounds nice but it’s not where we are at right now and I don’t think it would be a good idea to do that right now.

For the moment I am happy to just be with Derek, to be close with him and to take strength from the fact that he is always going to be here for me now.

It makes me so happy, happy in ways that I would never have thought of before. This is not what I expected when I first arrived here but now all of the thoughts I was having about Derek suddenly make sense.

And I know now that this it for me, it will be Derek and I for a long time.  


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Derek**

I almost regret saying that I was ready for this, but I know that this is as ready as I will ever be. I am still running off the happiness that comes with finally being able to work on a relationship with Stiles, rather than pushing him away with mean words that I didn’t actually ever want to say to him.

It is also a calming thought that he is going to be there with me when this happens. I know that my family would rather that they had the privacy but I know for a fact that Stiles is my mate, and if he is my mate then that makes him family to me.

After my whole conversation with Stiles, I allowed him to have a shower before we made our way down to the hallway outside the living room. From here I can hear the sounds of my family talking and laughing with each other. It is such a familiar sound that I never thought I would get to hear again.

I feel Stiles’ hand on the back of my arm, it’s partly a comforting gesture but I know it really means that he knows I can do this. It gives me the little push I need to open the door. The heads of Deaton and Cora look up first as they are the ones facing me, after that others start to do the same.

“Derek” A voice says from my left, I look in that direction and I see that the person who spoke was Adam. I give him a weak smile, deciding that I am going to get him out of the way before I see my mother and father, I kind of owe him that for what happened the last time I saw him. So with a deep breath I make my way over to my older brother, I’m not even in arms reach before he is pulling me into a hug.

It’s so weird to be hugging him now that I am no longer smaller in size, in fact I am actually bigger than him even though he is by no means small. I actually wish that I was still as small as I used to be compared to him because it doesn’t feel like it used to when he hugged me. The hug gives me no sense of relief that he is here, it’s missing something.

“I missed you so much baby brother” Adam whispers into my ear and suddenly with him calling me his baby brother everything falls right back into place. I pull him closer to me, hugging him as hard as I possibly could without hurting him. I never really thought about the fact that Adam lived all those years like I did, thinking the likes of Cora, Laura and I dead. This has all been hard on him too but he is willing to work on it, to try and makes us a family again, so if he can do it then so could I.

“This doesn’t seem real” I answer, finally letting him go. It allows me time to look at him, really map out his face to see if anything was out of place, I had to make sure this was real and it wasn’t going to slip away from me again, I don’t think I could handle losing any of them again.

“It’s real, I can assure you that… now we will have so much time to catch up but for right now there are other people wanting to see you” Adam gives me a stern look before spinning me around so I could look at my parents.

Mum is already crying and Dad has her held against him tightly as if he was keeping her in place. He probably was doing just that, she probably wanted to run over and hug me or something as soon as she noticed I was here.

I take a small breath before looking at my Dad, he looks me straight in the eye with a small smile growing on his face. I smile gently back at him before giving him a nod, a signal to let go of my mother as I was ready to do this.

As soon as Dad’s hands are off of her she hurries over to me. She throws her arms around my neck, pulling me in tight to her even if I was bigger than her. The familiar smell of my mother and the warmth that could only come from one of her hugs is what finally does it for me. A second later and I have fallen to my knees, Mum follows me down and I allow her to tuck my head into her neck. I curl into her, my arms wrapping around her waist as I allow all of the grief and sadness, that I have been keeping in ever since the fire, escape as I cry into her neck.

I feel another pair of arms wrap around me and I know that it’s dad because of the familiar smell of his favourite cologne. Not even seconds later I feel two other people working their way into the hug, obviously it is Cora and Adam. Almost everything suddenly fits into place again, all the anger that had built up over the years is suddenly gone and I am left feeling light.

Something is missing though, something that is keeping me from feeling fully happy and I can’t place what it is. Maybe it is the fact that Laura, the sister who was with me most of the years after the fire, is not here. She should’ve been here to witness this too. She died thinking that she would be seeing our family again when really they have been alive this whole time.

That is probably what is making me feel this way, although I don’t think that it is the only reason for me feeling this way. I also think that because Stiles is not involved with what is going on here, he is my mate and now that I have him I don’t want to experience anything without him again.

I move my head away from my mother’s neck to see if I could spot where tiles went. I find him sitting with Deaton, his eyes are slightly wet from tears and there is a slight look of jealously on his face although he is trying to hide it from me and everyone else in the room. He isn’t doing a very good job of it though.

I never thought about how this must be for him. To see me getting a happy moment like this and to know that he will never get it, his mother is still dead and there is no bringing her back. I suddenly feel very selfish to be happy when my mate is sitting over there obviously unhappy in some way. All I want to do is go over there and try to make him smile, I love his smile, but I know that’s something he wouldn’t want me to do. He wouldn’t want me to waste this moment with my family, to cherish the fact that they are alive. He would snap at me that he would do the same if he was in my situation.

When he sees me looking at him he gives me a bright smile to try and throw off the loo he had on his face before. I know that he is happy for me, but I also know that this is going to be hard for him for a while.

It’s in that moment that I know he needs to go home. I need this time to re connect with my family but I won’t be able to fully enjoy myself knowing that he is in pain. It will hurt to watch him go now that we have decided to give us a go, but I know that he needs to go, he needs his father right now. He also needs Scott and Melissa as they are the brother and mother he needs and has had when he was growing up.

With that last thought I go back to enjoying the warmth of my family surrounding me.   


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Stiles:**

It sucked that Derek was making me go home, I don't know why I couldn't just stay with him. He says it's because he doesn't want me to get into trouble because of him and how family is important so I need to be with my dad as much as I could. It's all bullshit because no matter how long I stay here I am still going to be in shit with my dad, there is nothing he could do to change that. 

As if it wasn't bad enough that he was sending me home, he actually called my Dad to come and pick me up from the airport because he doesn't trust me to get home myself after such a long flight. The last thing I need after a long flight is for Dad to start yelling at me in the middle of the airport, maybe I can just book a different flight that will allow me to get home before Dad has even reached the airport, I know he will just yell at me more, but at least it will be in the safety of our home. Home, a place I think I will be getting to know a little better because I doubt that Dad is going to let me out anytime soon. I don't know how I am going to explain to him just why I had to run all the way to South America, at least I know the reason myself, I left because my brain new I had feelings for Derek before I even knew it myself.

There was nothing I could do to get out of this situation that is arriving quickly now that we have landed back in California. I could actually feel my palms sweating and my heart beating a little faster. There is one thing I hate and that is disappointing my Dad or making him angry, even though I do the latter more often than not. Just the look on his face is going to floor me and I don't think I could handle seeing it, but alas I don't have a choice in the matter.

He is waiting for me at the gates, he is standing next to one of the large windows in the airport, his back turned away from me. It would be so easy to sneak away and just make a break for it so I could avoid the embarrassment of being scolded like a 5 year old in the middle of the airport. I know that's probably not the best idea though so I suck up my courage, ignoring the painful feeling in my chest that makes it feel like a fully grown man is sitting on my chest. The whole thing his wrecking havoc on my anxiety and it is starting to make me panic a little. God if I wasn't sort of dating Derek then I would kill him next time I seen him.

"Dad?" I ask tentatively as I stop behind him. I look down at my feet, fiddling with the hem of the hoodie I was wearing, it was a strange attempt to calm myself down. I should be good at doing that by now, it's something I tended to practice now that I am spending most of my time with some sort of supernatural creature who could probably hear my heartbeat.

Dad takes a moment to turn around but when he does he looks slightly worn out and a little wrecked. It looks like he hasn't slept in days or even tried to make himself look presentable. He gives me a sour look then brushes past me, making his way to where I need to collect my bags. That's not what I was expecting, it was much worse. I expected him to yell not ignore me and that look he gave me almost crushed my heart. I have never seen him look at me that way before, I never thought he would look at me that way. It's the sort of look he would give some of the worst criminals down at the station.

I hang my head as I slowly follow after him. Every fiber in me wants to regret running off, making Dad worry for me like he did but for some reason I can't find myself to feel guilty. Remembering what I did for Derek, helping him get through everything with him family and to finally make him accept and tell me about his feelings for me, and for me to tell him that I felt almost the same way, I know I did good so I can't feel bad for what I had done.

The silence between us lasted the whole way through the airport and the whole way home. Even when we got into the house the first thing Dad did was go into his room and close the door. I don't know how much longer I could last with him not speaking to me, it's like every nightmare and anxiety induced thought I had ever had was coming true. One of my biggest fears is Dad blaming me for Mum's death and leaving me because of it, and for him to not speak to me this way is sparking up what could be a panic attack.

I don't even know what to do with myself, should I go up to my room or am I even allowed to do this, what if Dad comes back down any second to tell me to get out of the house and not come back. Why even bother getting settled into my room if I only have to leave again. I don't see the point in going into to the living room, Dad probably doesn't want me to mess anything up for him, I have probably done enough of that for a lifetime. I guess my only option is to stay where I am, in the entrance way to the house, I can't do any harm here could I?

Maybe I should Call Derek, let him know that I got home okay and so that I could hear his voice, it's something that could probably calm me down. It would also be pretty selfish of me to do that, he is trying to spend time with his family, he wouldn't want to be bothered by someone like me, feelings or not. Maybe I should call Scott or Lydia... explain to them what happened whilst I was gone. Then again they might be busy already... Scott is the alpha now and probably has more important things to worry about, and Lydia is still trying to figure out what is going on with her and her Banshee powers. They are also both trying to get used to the new darkness that surrounds the three of us.

I was too busy going over all of these suggestions in my head that I didn't notice that Dad had come back downstairs. I also didn't realize that I hadn't moved at all from where I stood when I first walked in, my hand was still lingering on the handle of my suitcase. The only thing that breaks me out of my stupor was Dad saying my name and laying a hand on my shoulder, it startles me slightly. 

"Are you okay Stiles?" Dad asks, the slight look of anger still lingers on his face but so does concern, "why are you just standing here?" He asks once I don't answer him. I look at him as if waiting for a sudden outburst of anger to come from him.

"Why are you not yelling at me?" I ask, completely ignoring both of his questions. He drops his hand from my shoulder with a sigh, he then sits down on one of the staircase steps.

"Lydia told me why you went, and that you didn't know yourself... I am angry at you Stiles, I have never been so angry with you but I am mostly relieved that you are okay" He tells me then motions for me to join him on the stairs.

"I know how to take care of myself Dad, after everything that's happened here I think I could take on the world and still live to tell the tale" I say, it's meant to be funny but Dad doesn't laugh and I don't blame him.

"I know Stiles, you are too old for your age... I don't disagree when you say that you can take care of yourself... but mistakes can happen, and they can happen to anyone, I just don't want you to take on too much that you can't handle... I don't want to lose you like I lost your mother" He whispers then he is pulling me into a hug.

"Dad, I was safe, you were not going to lose me... I had Deaton and Derek, you can trust them" I mumble into his shirt which smells kind of musty if I am being honest.

"Deaton I trust, Derek... not so much, but I am willing to work on that considering..." Dad trails off, so Lydia must have told him everything. Does she know about the part that werewolves mate for life, if not then I am really not looking forward to having that conversation with my Dad.

"Yeah, how much do you know" I ask, sounding a little awkward about it.

"Only that Derek has some werewolf mating thing going on with my underage son" He tells me, he sounds a little annoyed and I begin to wonder if he will stop me from being with Derek because I am underage. I really hope he doesn't because that is just going to make the whole situation a little messy.

"Yeah, uh about that you don't need to worry... I told him that I didn't want to rush into anything and that I needed time to get to where he is, you don't need to worry about anything" I tell him quickly, trying to get him on my side before he could ban me from being with Derek.

"Don't worry... I'm not happy about the whole thing but I know that I don't really have the power to stop it from happening, Once again I will say that I know you can look after yourself... this doesn't mean that I am not going to be strict with your relationship until you turn eighteen" He tells me and it's better than I could ask for. Having your Dad as the sheriff can be hard but thank god he is going to let me be with Derek, it makes me so happy that he trusts me enough to do this after everything that I had just done.

"I love you Dad" I mumble before hugging him again.

"I love you too Stiles... but you are still grounded for what you did" He hugs me back.

Honestly I was expecting nothing less.  


	13. Chapter Thirteen

  
**Stiles:**

  
It was only after I had unpacked my things and took a much needed shower that I decided to call Scott and let him know that I am home again. How am I going to tell him about Derek, will he know already or is he as blind as I must have been. Perhaps Lydia told him that is probably why I ran off to make sure he was all good.

  
As I assumed he was pretty pissed that I went without telling him. He went on and on about how dangerous it was to leave the pack like that without telling anyone. He wouldn't listen when I told him that Derek was pack so I was safe, he didn't even listen to me when I told him that I ran into Deaton so I was pretty well protected from anything Supernatural.

  
He is making me leave for school extra early tomorrow so we have time to talk before school starts and we are hounded by everyone else in the pack. The last thing I need is for everyone to start questioning me about my trip before I have the chance to talk to Scott about it first. I would also like the time to break the news about Derek and I, I don't want to do it around anyone with supernatural hearing. It would only be minutes before Lydia got to me and I would officially become her gay best friend.   
Oh god I really hope that's not what I become. Derek would have a field day if he came home to find me being the new personal stylist when we go out shopping, I don't think that's what he will want in a boyfriend.

  
The goal for tonight is to find a way to gently tell my father that I was gay and in a relationship with someone who was several years older than me. Plus he has once been in police custody so that wont reflect well with Dad. I can just imagine his face when I tell him that.

  
"Stiles, dinner is ready" Dad calls as he passes past my door. He seems to be in quite a good mood with me considering everything that just happened, I would've thought that it would take him a while to forgive me, maybe he is just happy to have me back home.

  
Dinner is probably the best time for me to break the news to dad. He is always at his happiest after dinner, he always get's slightly sleepy when he has a full meal and that means he won't be as concerned with what I am doing. I say that now but I have said nothing like this before so I don't know how he is going to react.

  
The smell of pasta is the first thing that I notice when I get into the kitchen, then it is assaulted by the strong smell of garlic. I was impressed that he managed to cook something like this, then I saw the takeaway boxes on the side of the counter. That makes much more sense, Dad only cooks properly when he has big news to tell me, and that hasn't happened since he and Mum cooked home make lasagna when they broke the news of her illness to me. It's something he just doesn't see the need to do now because nothing can be bigger than Mum dying.

  
"How's Scott?" Dad asks as I take the seat in front of him. He looks interested in what I had to say. It was weird because usually when we had talks like this it would be about school or some interesting case that Dad had, sometimes he would let me help him solves certain things.

  
"He's good, slightly annoyed at me but that's a given, considering what happened... he needs me to pick him up in the morning for school" I tell him, he nods slightly then looks at me as if he is expecting me to tell him something else. I am confused at first, having no idea what he would need me to tell him. He sighs once he see's that I have no idea what is going on.

  
"Derek called whilst you were in the shower, I heard his sister say something rather interesting" He says then takes a rather large bite of pasta. Oh god what did Cora say, she could've said anything to him and what if it's something embarrassing that I would never want Dad to know.

  
"W...what did she say?" I ask him, placing my fork down on my plate, the food suddenly lightly unappealing to me. If Dad knows anything then I am pretty sure I am dead, and dead people don't need food.

  
"She mentioned that Derek was pining over the absence of his mate, and that he should stop mooning over his lost love" Dad mimics Cora, it's slightly scary how well he managed to do it.

  
"Righto, yeah I uh... Derek and I are sorta dating, but it's nothing serious" I tell him quickly. Dad only nods before going back to his dinner, I can tell by his face that he wants to say something along the lines of banning me from seeing Derek.

  
A knock on the door halts me from saying anything else. The meal Dad got now makes sense to me, we must be having guests over, I feel bad for starting already. Dad is the one who stands up first to go greet whoever it is at the door, I can't think of anyone who would come at this time for a takeaway dinner.

  
My questions are answered when Dad returned with three people who all look weirdly at me when they come in. Lydia, Allison and Scott trail in behind Dad.   
"I want to know all about this thing going on between my son and Derek Hale, considering what you were talking about Lydia there is more than meets the eye to this whole thing" Dad motions for them all to sit down.

  
"What did you say... and why are you all here, Scott I just spoke to you" I ask, slightly panicked by this whole thing. I feel like I am about to be interrogated, the kitchen lights seems more like a spotlight.

  
"He said that I should know something, even though I am pretty sure I know what you are about to tell me" Scott tells me then sits down, he instantly starts helping himself to the food on offer.

  
"I just came with Lydia and I was a little curious as to what is going on" Allison admits before sitting in the seat next to Dad.

  
"Stiles if this is happening then you will need to come clean about it... what is happening between you and Derek" Lydia sits down next to me, she places a hand on my shoulder as if she was trying to sooth me but it only feels like she is making sure I don't try to make a run for it.

  
"Well, he told me about the whole fact that he has been in werewolf love since he first met me and that he only treated me the way he did because he wanted to keep me safe" I tell her, everyone has their eyes on me now and it's making me sweat a little bit.

  
"And, what did you say to that? It's not something someone like you would just take lightly" Scott prods to try and get me to say some more about it.

  
"Obviously I said something... I said that I sorta liked him that way but I'm not on the same level as him so we are going to take it slow, pluss I am only seventeen I have the time" I say and hopefully it will keep Dad from freaking out about me being too young for this.

  
"Is that all?" Scott asks and he sounds a little disappointed in me, he probably expected me to be jumping Derek's bones, considering how much I go on about how I am the only virgin of the group.

  
"Yes that's all, I can be responsible sometimes Scott, have more faith in me" I flick some of my forgotten spaghetti at him.

  
"This is something that we will need to talk about in more depth and after I have had time to think about somethings there will be more rules in this house when it comes to your relationship with him... I don't want you doing anything with Hale until you are over the age of eighteen" Dad comments then glares at the mess that I made with the spaghetti, I know I am going to be the one on clean up duty.

  
"I believe Derek will be the one to agree on that, I have already spoken to him on the phone, he told me what happened when Stiles was over... he doesn't want to pressure him so nothing will happen" Lydia tells him. 

  
Why does everyone but me have any idea about what is going on in my own relationship, I didn't even know that the guy liked me until the last minute. How many times have Lydia and Derek spoken about things like this when I wasn't around to hear about it. I will have to call him at some point tonight so I can find out everything.

  
"I can respect that but Lydia, please stop finding out all this information about my relationship before I do, it's slightly creepy" I say with a grin, she smiles back then hits me upside the head.

  
"You know that wont be happening Stilinski, I will find out either way, don't you know who I am?" Lydia jokes then reaches for a piece of garlic bread.

  
"You guys enjoy your meal, I am going to finish off some things for work... make sure everyone leaves for eleven... Stiles is still grounded" Dad picks up his plate then leaves the room to head to his own bedroom.

  
The rest of the night is spent eating and watching crappy TV that was controlled by Lydia, so we ended up watching some weird show about wedding dresses, that I hate to admit was actually kind of interesting.

  
To make sure I stayed in good graces with Dad, everyone leaves the house at around 10:30. It also gave me half an hour before Dad came to check on me, I decide that the best use of that time is to call Derek.

  
However he doesn't answer. This bums me out slightly because I kind of miss him. It's like we started this relationship then we didn't really have time to bask in that fact before I was on a plane home. I didn't even have a date for his return home to look forward too, I was left in the dark about all of this.   
Maybe he is just doing something with his family and it would be rude of him to come to the phone and talk to me. I guess that was the whole point in me coming home anyway, for him to spend time with his family so maybe I shouldn't call him for a day or something... just to give him he time he needs.

  
This sucks.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Derek:**

It's so pathetic how depressed my wolf has become since the night Stiles left. It has only been around three days since I last saw him and I am already missing him so much, it might be due to the fact that we have now started to move forward in our relationship. The sadness has been showing on my person and most of my family have been commenting on it over the past couple of days, Peter has had fun in teasing me as he is the only one who really knows Stiles. Deaton is the only one who hasn't commented on it as he knows how I must feel, I used to go to him sometimes after any time that I hurt Stiles, he spent so many nights trying to convince me into telling Stiles that I didn't really hate him. 

"Maybe we should go back to Beacon Hills?" Cora suggests one morning as Mum cooked breakfast for everyone apart from Adam as he was back at Annie's house, doing the work he originally came here to do. I see Mum and Dad tense slightly at the mention of home, it must of been a tough subject for them after all the years thinking we were dead. I know that because I felt the same way when I had to come back to find Laura. The memories sucked back there, and so far they haven't got any better.

"Cora, I don't think that's such a good idea, I say softly because I know she is going to argue back, best to try and stop as much of an argument as I can. She places down her fork that still holds a piece of slightly burnt bacon.

"Derek, the place is still our home... and if I am being honest here, I am sick of you walking around here like a zombie because you can't see Stiles every second of the day, god you only just got with the guy" Cora rolls her eyes. I growl at her slightly just to make sure she knows to back off about Stiles, even if it's nothing bad it's just the tone of her voice that seems to aggravate my wolf. She only rolls her eyes at me again before looking over to Mum to see what she had to say about the whole thing. 

"Mum? are you okay with going back? We don't need to go back to the house, Derek has a loft that has plenty of room for us to all live in... we could go back to being a family again" Cora asks, there is a sort of childlike hope in her voice, the sort of tone you would hear from a child as they wait for their mothers permission. It's been clear over the past few days that what Cora wants the most is for our family to have a second chance, all she wants is the family she missed. 

"I don't know sweetheart... there are lots of painful memories back there" Mum says calmly, she must also sense and upcoming argument from Cora. It's weird how fast both mum and dad adapted to our new characters. We are obviously not the same people as we were before the fire, Cora was hardly even in her teenage years and now here she is freshly out of them. It's almost like they never missed a day, that they were there for all the ups and downs that we both had, Cora especially as she went through all those years trying to find herself whilst also trying to get over the death of her family by trying to fit into a new home in a new place. 

"That's what Derek and Laura must of thought and they still stayed there, well Laura did before she died... and I stayed for a while before I went back to Annie" Cora points out, "It's not going to get any better by running away, you have no idea what it is like back home" Cora is getting frustrated now. I can tell that at any moment she is going to blurt something out that I have told her to keep a secret, such as the niece of the woman who killed us, is almost considered pack.

"Cora, we know that everything is different... but we just don't know if we can find a home there anymore" Dad tries to solve everything, he is usually the one who tries to end fights before they happen, but I can till this is not one that he is going to win easily.

"Well why don't we try? You will never know... there are so many great people that you should meet, the people that are in Derek's pack are brilliant, his alpha is even a true alpha for god's sake" Cora pleads. I never knew she wanted to go home this badly, maybe it's just the idea of being a family again that's peaked her interest.

"I think that it is a good idea, for you to go home and face your demons that have been haunting you, and maybe meeting Scott will help you with that, he does have a way with people and to see someone like you Talia will help him I think with his new alpha abilities as he is not quite used to them yet" Deaton pipes in. it startles me slightly because until he speaks I usually forget that he is there. 

"See, even Deaton thinks you should go and you can always trust his judgment Mum" Cora looks smug as she sends Deaton a thankful smile. He gives her a small wink in return before he goes back to eating.

"It would stop Derek from moping around" Peter supplies from where he has been lurking around. He is currently sitting on one of the kitchen chairs with his feet propped up on a counter, he is reading from a large book that looks like something Stiles and Lydia would pour over in a library whilst trying to save our asses from something weird and supernatural. Obviously he is up to something if he is reading from that kind of book, no matter how innocent it may look, I know enough to not trust him.

"Maybe we should try it dear? maybe just a week or so?" Dad suggests, he looks unsure of what he is saying, maybe he is just afraid of what Mum's reaction might be. Thankfully her reaction was pretty calm. She just sets her plate on the table and gives a small nod of her head before speaking.

"I guess we could give it a try, but only for Derek and what might happen between him and Stiles" Mum gives me a smile and a small pat on the hand.

"Oh it's going to happen, I saw it from the start, they are going to be together no matter what the sheriff might do" Peter says then closes his book with a small sly smile. "Shall I book the tickets home?" He asks as he stand up. 

"Yes, we will head out tonight... we don't have much with us so it won't take long to get everything ready, Cora after breakfast go home and pack the things you need and we will swing by and pick you up later" Mum orders, giving Cora a firm gaze as if she was warning Cora not to argue with anything. 

I don't even wait to hear what Cora might say because I am suddenly making my way up to my room to begin packing. The thought of seeing Stiles again has clouded any judgement I had, all that mattered was that I get back home to him. 

He is probably going  to be a little pissed at me considering I haven't answered his calls in a couple of days. I warned him before he left that my phone would be off for most of the time as I just wanted to re connect with my family. I told him that I would call him when I had the chance, and to not worry if I don't call straight away. Knowing Stiles he probably forgot about it and decided to call anyway to make sure I was okay. He has probably spoken to Lydia at some point, so one of those phone calls was probably planned for him to yell at me for telling Lydia and Scott everything before I told him. 

I was okay with getting yelled at by him because it is something of a familiarity in this weird week I have been having, so it may be weird that I am looking forward to him yelling at me for being an idiot and waiting so long to tell him that I had feelings for him. Anyway it will be such a surprise for him when I turn up at his door, or perhaps wait for him beside his jeep because I don't think the sheriff is going to be too happy to see me at his door. 

"Eager little thing today aren't you" A voice says from the doorway, Cora. I can hear the smug satisfaction in her voice now that she has gotten her own way in the end. It is the same tone of voice she used to use as a kid and I was a teenager. It used to happen lots when she thought she had won something over me when really everyone else was just going along with her even if she was wrong and they knew it. 

"Go away Cora, I don't need you bothering me, can't you see that I am busy right now" I snap at her before pulling my suitcase out from under my bed. It already has most of my things in it from when I first arrived. I decided that I didn't need half of the things that I brought with me, so I just stuffed it away until it was time to go home. 

"You aren't even going to thank me for getting this to happen" Cora asks as she throws herself down onto my bed with a soft thump, knocking some of my clothes off the bed in the process. I glare at her as I lean to pick them up from the floor, I was just getting ready to pack them and now I have to fold them all over again. 

"Fine don't thank me... I didn't do this for you anyway, I did it for Stiles" Cora huffs then crosses her arms over her chest. By the look in her eye I could tell that she wanted to tell me something but she was a little afraid to ask me, it must be something to do with Stiles or something else that I might get defensive over, even though there is nothing much else apart from Stiles that would get me that way. 

"What is it that you are not telling me Cora, if you are not going to tell me what it is then you can just leave" I warn as I continue to pack up the little amount of thing that I own over here. Part of me is considering taking the blanket that came with the bed when I first got here, it's incredibly comfortable and it smelt like Stiles. It also seemed to be his favorite blanket when he was here, and it kind of holds something sentimental to me as it is the blanket Stiles was wearing when he told me that he was willing to try dating me... yup this blanket is definitively coming home with me, I don't care who tells me not too.

"Do you notice anything weird about Stiles when he was here, well when you were not making declarations of love to each other" Cora asks. She tries to joke but it falls flat due to the tone of her voice, it is hard and serious like what she is talking about could be something very life threatening and important. "Did you notice that his scent was off a little and the look in eyes didn't seem to be completely his own, it was like they were his eyes but they also belonged to someone else" She adds as an afterthought.

"I didn't notice anything wrong with him, because there is nothing wrong with him" I snap at her, suddenly jumping to defensive mode. "You saw just after he got off a long plane journey, of course he is going to be a little different" I turn to look at her, anger almost radiating off of me. She notices this and I could see her almost surrender of sorts, she puts both hands up in front of herself to show that he meant no harm.

"Hey, look it was probably nothing but I just wanted to be clear on that... I thought you may have noticed since you are his mate, I don't have one of those so I don't know what it is like" Cora actually looks a little upset, I never really thought she would be one of those girls who wanted to find the one for them, then again it's been a long time since I truly knew her so some things still come as a surprise.

"Just...Sorry for snapping but when it comes to Stiles I get a little over protective" I tell her, my tone turning into a softer one. I know she is only trying to look out for Stiles and I so I shouldn't get too mad at her for what she was trying to do. If anything was wrong with Stiles then I think I would be the last to know because everything about him distracts me too much, so I don't think I would notice anything different like Cora would.

"It's cool, I get it... anyway I need to go before Mum notices that I haven't left yet" Cora comes over and gives me a small hug, "And you should know that you are folding your shirts the wrong way, you would save much more space if you folded them this way" Cora then busies herself in showing me how to fold my shirts.

"Thanks, I'm not very good with packing" I say with a small laugh. She snorts then pulls back from the clothes that are still resting on the bed, waiting to be refolded. 

"I noticed, anyway I am off...see you later" Cora calls as she leaves the room. 

This leaves me alone to try and copy the movements Cora made when folding up the shirts, using the one she did as a guide, none of mine turned out as well as the one she made.

 It didn't take me long to pack up the rest of my stuff as I didn't have much with me to begin with. So I find myself sitting with hours to spare, so what better thing to do than call Stiles and let him know that I am coming home. It hits me a moment later that I can't call Stiles as he is probably in school right now.

This leaves me with nothing to do but sit around and wait. I could go sit with Mum and Dad but they probably need the time to themselves before they throw themselves back into the life of Beacon Hills. I don't think I would voluntarily chose to spend time with Peter, especially when he is most likely up to something. Deaton is probably doing some work on something either Supernatural or something to do with the animal clinic, I know that he is letting Scott run the place slightly whilst he is gone but I don't think he allows Scott to deal with the finance stuff or any problems like that. It's probably best if I leave him to it, even though he is the one I want to talk to the most right now. 

If Cora noticed that something was off about Stiles then I am almost sure that Deaton would have also seen if something was up, he just knows when something is going on. If something is happening to my mate then I would rather that I found out so I knew what I was dealing with. Perhaps it is worth the visit, if it helps calm me down slightly about all of this, I need to be sure that whatever might be going on with Stiles, it isn't going to hurt him.

After a moment of thought I decide against going to see him. I will wait and see what Stiles is like when I next see him, and if I notice anything off about him then I will go straight to Deaton to see what I could do about it.

With that thought I lie back on the bed, maybe some sleep will clear my head from all the worry that I am feeling.

And maybe it will make time go faster so I could see Stiles sooner.  


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**Stiles:**

I wake with a start, the memory of the dream makes me scream out loud into the night. I have no idea where I am or what is happening, I don't even know if I am awake right now. Everything feels real but so did the last time and that ended up being a dream. This has been happening every since I got back from South America. At first I thought it was because of the long flight I have been on, maybe they were messing with my head, but it's been a couple of days now and I have had the time to recover. This shouldn't still be happening to me. 

The door to my room bursts open and Dad runs in, he is hyper aware at night time now because it seems almost every night now he has to come running in from my room to make sure I was okay and then to calm me down from whatever nightmare I had. He takes his place behind me so he is able to pull me close to him and pet my hair in a soothing gesture. 

It does nothing, I can't stop remembering the feeling of not feeling here at all, I have no clue if this is a dream not. With each passing moment that doesn't lead to me waking up again makes me feel anxious, and that anxiety is making it hard to breathe. I can hear Dad saying soothing words to me but the sound too far away and slightly dimmed, as if I had water in my ears or something. 

This whole thing is causing my life to start falling apart. I am starting to lose concentration in class due to being tired and whatever I have has some weird symptoms because I have not been able to read at all lately. It started of being that at certain times I couldn't read but after a moment or two it came back, then it only got worse and in the end I just lost the ability. All the words don't make sense, the letters are not where the should be, none of them even make any English word. 

"Stiles? shh, shh it's okay... come back to me son" Dad's words soon cut through my internal panicking and slowly it is enough to bring me back down to earth, or I should say my bed. Now that I was calm the only thing I wanted to do is hug my Dad and never go back to sleep ever again, sleep makes me vulnerable to anything. I am already the weak human of the pack so being asleep only makes things worse, I can't protect myself when I am awake so there is a low chance of me being able to do it when I am sleeping.

"Hey, you are okay, I'm here now... just go back to sleep it will all be better in the morning I promise" Dad starts to rock me slightly and it should be soothing but the way my eyes start to feel heavy and I don't like it.  I start to pull away from him because it is his motions that are making me feel tired and I have to do everything in my power to make sure that I stay awake.

"No, no I can't sleep... I just can't sleep Dad, I refuse! I won't sleep!" Slowly my voice starts to rise and my body starts to shake as if I was freezing when in fact too hot. Sensing my ongoing panic, Dad quickly backtracks slightly then raises his hands to show that he didn't mean to get me started again.

"Hey, look you need to sleep Stiles, this is not good for you okay" Dad tries to reason but I just shake my head, unwilling to listen to what he has to say because the idea of sleeping is just slightly to terrifying. I have no idea when this started, normally I would jump at the chance to go to sleep now I never want to sleep again, maybe I should look into becoming a vampire or something, if they even exist. Maybe that might not be a god idea considering I am friends with so many werewolves and it is known that those two species hate each other. God that's that plan out of the window, I don't want to lose my best friend and the hunk of a man that might soon be my boyfriend.

"No, I mean I'm wide awake now anyway so I guess I will do some homework or something until I get tiered again" I say even though it is a lie. I am dead on my feet and the only work I will be doing is research into what is happening to me right now. I could call Scott, maybe he is awake, probably thinking of ways to ask out that new girl Kira that he has been fawning over for the past couple of days.  

"Stiles, you need to sleep" Dad tries again even though he knows he is not going to win this argument easily, in fact I bet he knows that he isn't going to win this at all.

"I promise if I get tired I will go back to sleep" I say with as much honest as I could but I know that my eyes will give it away. After a moment he lets out a sigh and that is how I knew that I have won this fight. 

"Fine, fine you win this time... perhaps we should see someone about this, maybe we could talk to Melissa?" Dad offers, he looks worried and his eyes plead for me to consider talking to someone. Part of me doesn't want to talk about it because talking to someone professional is me accepting something is wrong with me when really it must be stress or something like that. The other part wants me to do something to make my Dad stop being so worried, the look on his face mirrors the one that was always there whilst Mum was sick, and I hate seeing him that way. 

"If it get's any worse over the next couple of days then I will talk to Melissa" I tell him, lying straight through my teeth but he doesn't have to know that. He won't ever find out because the way his face changes makes me feel slightly less worried about him and that's a good thing. So really it's not a bad lie, it's just a little white lie to make him feel better. 

"Good, I'll see you in the morning, goodnight son" Dad ruffles my hair then gets up and leaves the room. After the door shuts behind him and the sound of his footsteps slowly fades away I am left in the silence of my bedroom and it slightly unnerves me. I need to do something that will fill the silence, anything is better than sitting here with only my thoughts to occupy my time. 

Getting up abruptly, I make my way over to the TV in the corner of my room right next to my desk. I turn it on to find some Marvel movie on and it's almost perfect because the constant sounds of battling and the action that comes from the TV is enough to distract me. Once I was happy with the volume of the TV I sit down at my desk, computer already turned on from where I left it on when I went to bed several hours ago.

The setting is perfect for me to begin the research on what is happening to me, so I was a bit surprised when a voice startles me from making any progress. Turning around in fright, I see Derek Hale standing next to my open window. He looks a little disheveled and tired so I am expecting that he has only just arrived home and has not actually gone back to his loft yet. It's nice that he thought to come and see me first before dealing with himself, it makes me feel slightly special.

Without thinking I push myself back from my desk and in almost a second I have found my way into his arms, hugging him to me tightly. All of my fears and nervousness has suddenly gone in a flash. His time for coming home is almost perfect, I didn't know that I needed him here until I just saw him. It only gets better when I feel his arms wrap around me, keeping me safe with him. He is always someone I can depend on when it comes to my safety, even though it has not always been like that. A year ago if I even came near him I would be slammed into the nearest wall or steering wheel for that matter.

"I missed you, god I never thought I would've missed you this so much, it's only been a couple of days" I murmur into his ridiculously muscled chest that never seems to amaze me. I can hear a slight rumble in his chest that means he is laughing at me. I understand why, I must sound really stupid and clingy to him considering we started dating not even a week ago and I haven't really seen him since then.

"I understand, I missed you too... why do you think I came home so early, and why do you think I am here instead of my own home" Derek strokes my hair with one hand whilst the other runs up and down my back in a motion that soothes me better than Dad's attempts. It's weird to hear Derek saying that he misses me, it's even weirder than the fact that he is hugging me to his chest and staring down at me like I am the most precious thing in the world. Man I really love being mates with a werewolf. 

"Well you haven't really spoken to me so I figured you were already sick of me or something" I say and a sudden growl erupts from Derek's mouth. It takes me by surprise because up until now he was very calming and sweet so for him to growl at me thinks he has suddenly gone back on his word and he is going to go back to hating me all over again. 

"I will never get sick of you, do you hear me? You are my mate and even if you don't love me yet, I love you and I will never get sick of you" Derek presses several kisses to my head then face, avoiding my lips as he knows that I probably don't want that yet. "And I told you that I needed the time with my family, that's why we haven't been talking, but from now on you can talk to me whenever you want" Derek pulls back slightly so he can look over at the TV, which is still pretty loud and is showing a pretty brutal fight between Captain America and The Winter Soldier.

"I uh, it was too quiet and I needed to fill the silence" I admit as I pull away from him to turn off my computer, figuring I was not going to get any work done tonight anyway. It's not like I could really do anything in the first place as I can't read what anything was saying, especially if some of the words are not in English.

"Why are you not sleeping" Derek asks then pulls me over to the bed gently. It is still messy from where I thrashed about in my sleep, some of the sheets are hanging off of the bed in a way that they shouldn't. If Derek noticed the mess, he didn't comment on it which I was thankful for because If I tell him what is happening then he will go full scale into this. He will drag me to see both Melissa and Deaton to make sure it's nothing medical or supernatural, then he will tell the whole pack and for the next couple of months I will have a bunch of clingy overprotective werewolves/ banshee/ hunter's on my ass. 

"Just woke up, guess I am no longer tiered, I was going to try to do some homework when you showed up... and I would much rather spend time with you than some old dead guy" I joke, trying to distract him from the state of my bed. It works because it makes him smile, and I find that Derek should smile more because he looks really beautiful and the world needs to see it more. I decide then and there that as long as I am dating Derek I will try to make him smile all the time, even if it's because of something stupid. Someone smiling over something silly is one of the best smiles because it is so pure, and the smile is so real so it makes it the most natural smile ever. 

"I would like to think you would" Derek grins then leans over to kiss the top of my forehead, once he pulls back his face is a little more serious though now, "You should get some more sleep Stiles, you have school tomorrow and you have already missed enough over the past year" Derek tells me then pushes me down onto the bed. 

"Wait... watch the film with me? I will fall asleep during it but I just want to spend some time with you" I plead, not wanting him to leave me alone with the silence and the nightmares. He looks like he really wants to stay but something is holding him back, probably me and my big mouth telling him that I wanted to go slow. "It won't be anything bad... and I know I said I wanted to take things slow but we've already cuddled up together so it doesn't count" I hurry to say this before he could tell me that he shouldn't do it.

"Stiles..." Derek starts but he could probably hear my heart beating just a little but faster in fear, and how my breather is starting to become short and shallow as if I was on the verge of panicking, which I think I am. I don't think I could handle it if he left now, I just need him here with me... something about him just makes me feel better and I think I might actually be able to sleep if he was with me. "Fine, we can watch the film but you still need to go to sleep" He warns then joins me on the bed. 

"Will you stay with me... you won't have to worry about Dad, he worked a night shift so he will be out until about noon tomorrow" I beg, hoping that the already fast pace of my heart covers the fact that I lied about my dad working the night shift and that he really will sleep in because I keep waking him up at all hours of the night.

"Okay, you won't hear any complaints from me but if your Dad does catch us then I am blaming you for my untimely death" Derek jokes but it makes me a little scared to think of him dying on me. I cover it up with a quick laugh though and it is enough for him not to expect anything. Much to my delight, before Derek settles on the bed he removes his shirt and jeans, leaving him in just his underwear and a black wife beater, it does wonders for his arms and it makes me drool slightly. I even find myself questioning my choice on taking things slow. 

Once he has made himself comfortable he leans back against the pillows, that I propped up so he was able to see the film, he then opens his arms in a question. It doesn't even take me two seconds to decide that I want to be cuddled by him. I shuffle my way over until I am able to rest my head over his heart, listening to the sound is almost comforting to me, it makes it all seem real, and it is also how I finally decide that I know this isn't a dream. 

Derek kisses my head again before leaning back to watch the film. The warmth and the sound of Derek's heart is what makes me realize how tired I was. It's almost as if the past couple of days without sleep has finally come to one big conclusion and I have suddenly just crashed.

I didn't even know I had fallen asleep until I woke up to a sleepy Derek shaking me awake.  


	16. Chapter Sixteen

**Scott:**

To anyone else sitting around me, I must look like a creep. I have been staring at Stiles for the better part of 15 minutes. I can't help it though because something about him is making my skin itch under the surface. Something is off and it is something bad but I just can't put my finger on it. He scent is all wrong and it's not just the scent of Derek that he has been sporting all day because it has been wrong way before Derek came back. 

It's not just his scent, he has been saying that he keeps falling asleep in all of his classes but in every class that we have been in together he has not slept. He just zones in and out during class, he looks off into the distance but for some reason he is still able to take notes. I have no idea how he is falling behind in class with the amount of notes he is taking. It makes no sense that he keeps telling me that he is sleeping in class because all he does is zone out, and considering that I have heard the same thing from everyone else in the pack, something is clearly going wrong with him. 

Also with the whole sleeping thing, the bags under his eyes tell me that he is actually struggling to sleep. I also think that his trouble sleeping is why he is not eating. Take now for example. The whole day he has been going on about how he is going to pig out on curly fries at lunch. Now that is is lunch though, all he can do is push them around his plate and say that he isn't very hungry and that he will just eat when he goes over to Derek's after school.

That has been his excuse for the past week, but I found out from Derek that he never eats there either, his excuse it that he ate a big lunch. Now after hearing that from Derek, I am really starting to worry that Stiles has some sort of eating disorder or something that has been brought on from stress or something like that. I am considering talking to Mum about it because it's really getting out of hand, and for Stiles not to come to me and tell me if something is wrong with him, is hurting me. 

Normally he would tell me anything but that hasn't been happening in a while. It all started after I was bit and our whole worlds started revolving around the supernatural and the problems that it brought to our lives. I am starting to think that because of everything that has happened, he feels like his problems are not worth talking to someone about and all I want to do it tell hi that he can talk to me, but I think that might just make him close up even more. 

"Dude, what is up? you have been staring at me for like twenty minutes? please don't tell me you are switching teams and now have a thing for me because I don't think that will sit too well with Derek" Stiles turns to me suddenly, I had no idea that he noticed me looking at him. I flick my eyes away from him so I could look down at my own untouched plate of food that is sitting in front of me. 

"It's nothing, I was just lost in my own head... didn't even know I was looking at you" I lie, suddenly very glad that he doesn't have the ability to hear heartbeats like the rest of us do. Isaac snorts at my bad excuse which makes Stiles glare at him. He may not have the ability to hear when I am lying but he has known me long enough to know it with other ways. 

"Okay, don't tell me... I am going to the library, I'm not hungry right now" Stiles stands up with his tray, he tries to walk away swiftly but he strips over someone's bag on his way to dump his food. 

"What is up with him?" Allison asks me as she slides over to take his place in front of me. She has a worried loo on her face so I know that it is not just me that has noticed something off about him. I am glad that it is not only me because that makes things easier for me when I try to get their help to figure it out.

"I don't know, I have noticed something off about him for the past couple of days... and I don't think it has been brought on my something normal" I say which is code for maybe something supernatural.

"Wait you think this has something to do with werewolves or something?" Isaac asks, butting into the conversation as if he was apart of it the whole time.

"Maybe, but I don't think it's werewolves... just something else in the supernatural world" I answer him just as Lydia joins the table.

"Oh what is it now? can't we ever catch a break" She complains as she hears the last part of the conversation. She may not have been in this world for a long time but she has suffered first hand more than anyone else by the problems this world comes with.

"We think something is going on with Stiles" Allison tells her. Lydia scoffs as if the idea is impossible to even consider. She must have not noticed his change in behavior, I decide not to bother her with it for the moment so I just turn to Isaac and Allison who are both staring at me, waiting for me to continue.

"How can you be sure that it is something supernatural?" Asks Isaac who has been staring at me with such a wonder in his eyes and I don't quite know what to make of that so I just shrug it off for now, turning my attention on answering his question. Allison seems interested also, the way she is also looking at me informs me that I am the only one who thinks this must be something of the supernatural rather than something normal.

"An alpha instinct maybe... my wolf has been sensing something off for a while, now with Stiles acting weird, it just adds up and I think that it is connected" I answer, my mind trying to go back far enough to remember when I started to feel like this, trying to match it up to the sudden change in Stile's behavior. I can't seem to find it though because I was too caught up in my own drama to realize that something else was going on. It could have been going on for longer than I even knew about, so I am not able to pin this down properly.

"Maybe we should talk to someone with more experience, maybe Derek or Peter?" Allison suggests, she looks over at Isaac to see if he will agree with her but he doesn't look back at her to give any sort of answer. He does however scoff when she mentions going to Peter for help. "You don't think we should ask anyone" Allison snaps at him, sounding annoyed that he didn't agree with her on this. 

"I think we should ask someone with more experience, I just don't think we should ask Derek because he will worry about Stiles more than we will, and I would't trust Peter with anything, no matter how much he knows" Isaac answers her and I must admit he makes good points. I don't think we should tell Derek  what is going on until we know a little bit more about what we are dealing with. Knowing him he will probably become overly worried and protective over Stiles and that is not what we need when we are trying to help him, it would just complicate things. 

"I agree with Isaac, Derek will just get in the way when it comes to helping him... I'm working after school today so I will ask Deaton if he has any idea's about this, and if he doesn't know then I will ask my Mum if she thinks it could be anything normal that she could help with" I say but Lydia makes a noise in the back of her throat which tells me that she doesn't think that it's a good idea.

"If you say something to your mother then she will just go straight to the Sheriff, which is just as bad a telling Derek" Lydia says and I know that she is right. We can't tell my Mum but I still think we need to explore the possibility of this being a medical problem. Lydia seems to read my mind because the next moment she is solving my problem for me. "You should be glad to have friend as smart as I am, I will loo into his symptoms when I go home... Allison why don't you come over and help me, maybe you can bring the bestiary" Lydia suggests and it's a much better plan that what I had.

Allison just has the time to nod her head in answer before the bell rings, signalling the end of lunch. Knowing that Isaac is going to be in Stiles' next class I warn him to keep an eye on his behavior just as evidence.

I head of to class, shaking my head slightly to try and clear my head before class, I don't need to be falling behind again. It works slightly but the whole way through the rest of the day the thought of Stiles was lingering in the back of my mind.

I can see that whatever it is that is messing with Stiles, is effecting him badly and it is hurting me to see my best friend this way. All I want to do is find some way to help him out.

I know that whatever it is won't be easy but I don't think there is any other fight I would rather take part in. As long as I could keep Stiles safe, then I would be happy.  


	17. Chapter Seventeen

**Isaac:**

History was as always, boring and easy. It is something that I actually enjoyed doing at school but over the past year I have found it easier to remember names and dates, so in my spare time I find myself reading through the books that I have borrowed either from Derek or the library. It is something that I should probably stop doing because it makes classes like this pretty boring. I can't help but do it though, with everything going on in this town, going though my books and learning about other people who have been through worse but have still come out on top, is something that keeps me going most days. 

I usually keep it a secret but living with Scott means that he has started to know more about me so he is the only one who knows about this. After he found out I started receiving more books to read, hidden within the other books that I had gotten myself. They were obviously from Scott, but I think he was trying to hide the fact that it was him who was giving them to me. I think he was only doing it to show that he can be a good alpha who cares about his pack and want's them to be happy. 

Anyway, this particular history class may have been boring and easy, but what I was set out to do was not as easy. We had only been in the class for fifteen minutes when Stiles zoned out for the first time. The fact that he sits next to me makes it easier to see what he is doing. He i slouched over the desk, writing what the teacher was saying down, it would seem pretty normal but he was still writing even though the teacher had just informed us on what work we had to do and had stopped talking. What was he writing now? It couldn't have been the work we were supposed to be doing because he hadn't even opened his book to the right page yet. 

I elbow him slightly which makes him jerk up and blink sleepily. He looks surprised at where he is, he looks around the room like he was deeply confused at what was going on. He jumps slightly when he sees me sitting next to him, staring at him. 

"Oh, hey sorry I must've fallen asleep" He says, and he isn't even lying about it, so he clearly thinks that he was sleeping. This just makes everything so much weirder and I have no idea what to say to him. In an attempt to do something I knock his water bottle to the floor. He glares at me in his usual way, at least he is still the same person, then bend's down to collect his water. He struggles for a bit to reach it and in that time I make the fast decision to grab his notebook and switch it for his school book, hoping he will be too tired to notice. 

To my luck, he doesn't notice that his notebook is gone, he just simply stares down at the book before him. After a moment of waiting, I lean down so I am able to slide the notebook into my own bag so I can look through it later to see what Stiles is really doing. I think it will help to have something to show Deaton when Scott goes to talk to him later. 

I start to watch Stiles again, from the corner of my eye to see if does anything else. He sits still for a while, just looking at the book in concentration. He is so still and silent that it actually scares me when he moves, he leans down into his bag to retrieve another smaller more used notebook that looks like it is already full, he is probably only bringing it out so it looks like he is actually doing something. That is what I am doing, the page I am on in my notebook is actually from English class but it has enough complicated words in it to make it seem like it's about history.

When the bell rings for the end of the day, I don't think I have ever been more happy to get out of class. Sitting beside this shell that Stiles has become, is slightly unnerving and I'm not used to not having the usual chatter from Stiles, and even though I don't like to admit it, I worry for him because this is not who he is and it's not normal.  I have no idea how someone like Lydia who has known him longer than I have, could miss something like this. I am glad she is helping even if she thinks nothing is wrong.

Scott is waiting for me outside of the class, he is just waving Stiles goodbye when I join him. Concern is all over his face as he watched Stiles leave, he is probably on his way to Derek's which is a good thing because it means there will be no way of running into him, he will be too busy hanging out with Derek to want to do anything else. I nudge Scott with my shoulder, the touch sending sparks through my arm which I find slightly weird but I decide not to look into it because it doesn't seem important right now. 

"Hey, did anything happen?" Scott asks, and I swear his eyes light up when he sees me, but then again it might just be wishful thinking. Scott wouldn't see me that way when people like Allison and Kira are around. 

"Just the usual, he spaced out for a bit... he continued writing though so when he wasn't looking I swiped his book to see what he is really writing in here because I have a feeling it is not about the civil war" I say as I pull the beaten up book from my bag. Scott grins at me so I know I did a good job and because of my need to please, it makes me feel good that I did something right for him. I try to not let how I really feel show though because it would be a little weird for me to get excited over something like this, so I just give him a grin in return, hoping that I don't look too happy that I made him proud. 

"We can go back home first before going to Deaton's, we can take a look through the book and send any information over to Lydia and Allison" Scott suggests before stuffing the book back into his own bag. The ting was pretty bulky so it took him a moment to get it to fit in there. "God how did Stiles miss this thing?" Scott laughs then motions with his head for me to start walking with him. 

I laugh slightly before following him. Knowing that I probably missed any ride home on a school bus, I am probably going to get a ride on the back of Scott's bike and the thought of it makes my heart speed up slightly. I try my hardest to calm down because I know that Scott can hear my heart and he would probably be worried if he head it speed up so suddenly. I think of something calming the entire way to his bike and by the time I get there, I am feeling slightly better about the whole thing. 

It does not prepare me for what it will actually be like, pressed up to Scott with nothing to hold onto apart from his muscled chest. I held on like a he was my last life support the whole way there. He must've thought me crazy because he knows I'm not scared of bikes because I have been on them before and I was perfectly fine then. He doesn't question it though so I am glad about that. 

Melissa is home when we get there, but she is just getting ready to go out when we walk through the door. She smiles and gives us both a kiss on the cheek in a welcome home. Scott hugs his mum and I give her a cheeky smile because I know she secretly loves it when I am cheeky, even if she acts like she doesn't.

"I thought you didn't leave for work until tonight?" Scott asks when he see's Melissa is in her scrubs, her hair pulled back in a bun. 

"I am signed up to a private consultation and I have no idea how long it will last. so I thought it better to just be ready... if it doesn't take long I will stop somewhere for dinner, there is food in the fridge but you can order in if you want" Melissa kisses Scott's cheek again then comes over to do the same to me before she i leaving. Scott looks confused and it's probably because I don't think Melissa has ever done a private consultation before so this is a little weird. 

"Should we order something, I don't know about you but I'm not winning any awards for cooking" Scott suggests then makes his way to the kitchen table, already fighting to get Stiles' notebook out of his bag. I get a weird feeling in my stomach because this all feels very domestic, something I don't think I have felt since before my mother died. Coming in to a warm and welcome house to a woman who treats me like her own son, having normal conversation with Scott over what we should have for dinner. It's nice enough to almost forget the fact that we might have another supernatural threat lurking about beacon hills.

"No arguments from me, pizza?" I ask casually even though I am all giddy inside. This is more than I could have asked for when Derek gave me the bite, with Scott I have that feeling of family, of belonging somewhere, I haven't felt that in such a long time.

"Good with me, you order, I will get us drinks I feel lie this is going to take some time" Scott places a hand on my back as he passes and I once again get that tingly feeling in my body and I can't help but watch as he walks away to get the drinks.

I really need to get my head straight, I know that I feel something for Scott but I also know that if I keep going down this path I am just going to get hurt when Scott next turns up with a girlfriend on his arm. With that thought I turn away so I could get started on ordering the pizza.

We don't get started on the notebook until the food arrives, we spent the time waiting by doing homework, most of it is spent with Scott and I trying to help each other out with math as it is not a strong suit for either of us. Scott is the one who goes to pay for the pizza, leaving me to clear away all the work laying out on the table so we have more room to concentrate. 

"Okay, so I think what we have to do is go through the earlier stuff so we can recognize when he started to change" Scott says as he walks into the room, pizza box cradled carefully in his arms. The pizza is rather large and Scott is acting like he is afraid to drop it, even though he shouldn't be since he has weird werewolf reflexes that would stop him from dropping it. I then remember that Scott's love for Pizza rivals Stiles' love for curly fries, he is probably protecting it with his life. He has barely even set it down before he is reaching in to pick up a slice.

"I guess that makes sense, It might be hard to tell what is normal and what isn't normal when it comes to Stiles, probably just has doodles of Derek's name everywhere" I joke even though it's probably not the right time to be joking, we have no idea what is going on with Stiles. Scott however does laugh lightly at the joke, even though the smile on his face doesn't quite reach his eyes.

I open the book to a random page just to take my mind off of how awkward it just got. I expected the page to either be blank or covered in school work what what I got is something actually pretty terrifying. All over the page are the words "Wake Up" and they are written in all different types of ways. Some are upside down, some are backwards, some are written so lightly that it's hard to see them, the worst ones are the ones in block capitol as they have been written so hard that they have torn the paper in several places. 

I flick to the next page to see that it is also covered in the same thing, so is the next page and the page after that, in fact I think the whole book is filled with the same thing. 

Wait... it turns out that not the whole book is covered in the same thing. The very last page of the book is by far the most crumpled so it catches my attention above the rest of the book. I turn to the page to see that the words "Wake Up" are still there but this time they are written in red ink, and the words shape out the number 5.

I look up at Scott who is staring down at the page with wide eyes, the pizza in his hands is long forgotten.

I thin by now it is pretty clear that something is defiantly wrong with Stiles.  

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
